Qualcomm

Qualcomm is still able to attract some of the smartest people. I think the smartness density has gone down somewhat over the years, but people are still above the industry average.

Qualcomm offers excellent benefits in health plan, vacation, and flex time. Facilities are excellent, with multiple gyms available (at least in the San Diego location). The norm is to provide an individual office for all engineers, which I think is an excellent idea for engineering.

Qualcomm pay is competitive but is not top rung. Given Qualcomm's size, stock options don't have as much upside.

I have my doubts about our current CEO, Paul Jacobs.

Qualcomm has been very strong in systems and communication theory, but weak in software. There are a lot of smart s/w engineers, and s/w makes up a large chunk of engineering, but the number of VPs is still more skewed towards comm theory.

Pay more attention to software. This means building new products, but also paying more attention to software quality. We also need to be more aware of human factors like UI and security, etc., in our product design.