General Motors

GM still pays better than many companies around Detroit as well as nationally. If you are lucky to be in a good group, you get to do interesting work. For a Mechanical Engineer, cars are among the most interesting things to work on. Detroit suburbs are boring but have many good schools, affordable housing, and the state of Michigan is home to good universities.

GM is a company that can become a "one-trick pony." Most employees end up doing the same stuff year after year. It is important to be placed in an important product development group. Otherwise, a career can quickly become meaningless. There are many bad managers. Promotions are generally reserved for people involved in cost cutting. Detroit is not a fun city either.

Employees need to be empowered and rewarded. It is important to get rid of "old boys' clubs" within companies.