Micron Sucks

Micron Technology, Inc. Sucks and It Does Not Even Pay Good Bucks!!! I worked at Micron Technology, Inc. in Boise, Idaho for nearly two years, and in retrospect it was a colossal mistake personally, emotionally, financially, and professionally. Some of the highlights of my nightmarish experience: 1.

After a sibling committed suicide, and I returned to work and then my supervisor hauled me into a conference room and gave me the 15-minute "This is Micron's bereavement policy..." rant.

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Most issues were always resolved by fiat with the opening words "Micron's policy is..." I think my supervisor had the Micron policy manual up his rectum, as I never saw a policy manual.

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The zero-tolerance policies of Micron are just an excuse to fire someone arbitrarily without any options. Micron really pushes its zero-tolerance policies. One guy lost his job in support because he was diabetic, and Micron's policy of zero-tolerance for drug use on the job...apparently a syringe was considered drug use. The guy had to sue to get his job back, and the supervisor was fired. Micron Technology has never heard of the Americans with Disabilities Act, or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

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You have to badge in and have your time/location logged. The only problem is that Micron monitors when you leave, and if you do not work your 40-hours, they will compute your per-hour pay rate (I was salaried at $40,000) and deduct the time. Once I only had 39-hours and 58-minutes, they docked me for the 2-minutes.

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The company-wide meetings are an excuse for the CEO to show off his expensive toy--flying his airplane at an air show accompanied by Ricky Martin music playing in the background.

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The supposed increase in salary for skills to keep your job competitive with industry is a farce. Only the skills Micron and your supervisor deem "competitive" are evaluated, so the pay increases are in actuality cost of living allowances below inflation.

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Employee reviews tend to be cherry-picked issues saved by your supervisor, and then written down. I was criticized for having too many outside interests, and showing a strong passion for technical skills/tools/languages Micron declared "evil" to the company.

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The security guards make me wonder why the cockroaches have not carried off the fabrication plant. During orientation you're reminded to report everything to security such as slip and fall. But once when returning a temporary parking decal the security guard seemed more worried about getting wet (it was raining and I was at the gate) and then bitched the entire time (for doing his job).

The team lead I had was a terrible manager, not a people person, and to compound the problem was a control freak who was either had bipolar disorder or was mentally and emotionally unstable. He might have been an adequate programmer but had become a supervisor--shit rises to the top of the sewer. Worse still he tried to act like Micron, a Fortune 500 behemoth was still in startup mode which was laughable except I had to work with this emotionally unstable ignoramus every day. 1

Some of the highlights of working for him are: 1.

Once I was discussing with my cube mate an approach to solving a technical glitch, and then I get an e-mail from my supervisor in the next cube castigating me and asking what I was doing.

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A software tool I wrote did not give any visual indication of its status, so my supervisor sent out an e-mail to the entire team saying it was a piece of shit, and didn't work.

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My supervisor once verbally harassed me nearly shouting and screaming when I asked a technical question; later I found out he'd run afoul of a technical team with the same technical issue. I was the verbal whipping post.

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Once at the company meeting my supervisor decided to question my fashion sense about the boots I was wearing, and style of slacks and shirt with a big smile and laughing.

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On my birthday, the team lunch was "consolidated" with another guys, so I felt like they were going through the motions, and economizing on the birthday lunch--why bother with it.

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Once I ordered some memory from Micron for my laptop, thinking it was better to help the company I work for and get the discount. The idiots muddled the address, and apparently Micron's policy for employee discount did not apply to certain items at a price--and I had to pay for the shipping! Worse, the memory chips were fried, so I had to buy another company which were shipped free and worked.

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One time my supervisor forgot to tell the team about not giving personal information out on the phone (I thought that's pretty obvious.) Every time the phone rang, my supervisor would stand up in the next cube and lean over and be saying loudly "do not give out any personal information." Micro-managing who I speak to and what I say on the phone.

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My supervisor once decided to tell me in no uncertain terms of threat that any software I wrote on my own that "Micron has first dibs." Yeah right.

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Lunches out tended to be awful Thai, Chinese, foreign meals. (Sorry, I like American food, and won't apologize for it; not politically correct but I don't want fresh monkey brain soup.) My supervisor after one Thai lunch got belligerent pointing out in a meeting later that I only ate one teaspoon of some terrible Thai soup...like he's the god of dining out.

10. Frequently at team lunches after the food was ordered the team would sit in mute silence, my supervisor had everyone so on edge nobody dared to speak. Finally my supervisor would ask (yes, he would...) "Has anyone read any good books lately?" 11. Because I starting having medical problems, I was called into a meeting with my supervisor, his supervisor, and the supervisor. They're attitude toward my health problems was "get the right medication, get it fixed." My supervisor then added "We can fire you for this..." and proceeded to say the "Right to Work Law" which concerns unions justified it (total balderdash). I guess the supervisors and Micron have never heard of the Americans with Disabilities Act, or felt they were above the law. 2

12. At one review I decided to be candid and pointed out that because of my supervisors emotionally unpredictability, some days I was afraid of approaching him with problems or questions. My supervisor looked as though I had just slapped him, but he apparently did not realize his behavior and behavior problems and the dysfunction it created. The personnel people are terrible--no they're incompetent morons. Once I had to submit some official documents and some dumb twit girl in personnel either lost them or threw them away when I sent them by inter-office mail. Later it suddenly became my problem, and when I e-mailed, called, left voice mails no response. Later the same stupid people promoted her--it must be management by the Peter Principle. The team I worked with had two Indians, who spoke the accented English, and often took a very condescending view of Americans like we're lazy and stupid. On a Thursday when I filed a harassment complaint with personnel, that Monday I was terminated. They probably wanted to preempt any so-called action by the morons in personnel. My supervisor was a gutless wimp; a friend of mine who quit was escorted out of the building by his supervisor. I had three security guards escort me out after my supervisor shook my hand saying, "Hardest thing I have to do." I had to seek professional help afterwards for the psychological trauma I experienced under this jerk and this company. Many people hate their jobs at Micron and use drugs, cough syrup, and alcohol to drag into work each day. DO NOT WORK FOR MICRON TECHNOLOGY, INC. UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE TREATED WORSE THAN A SLAVE AND EASILY REPLACED. Other comments from other people’s experiences: One of the most stressful places I've ever worked. After starting it took three months to decide that I was going to get out of there as soon as my moving expenses were paid. I spent numerous meetings listening to people yell at each other, and watching people walking out in tears. Not the kind of place I would recommend to work. Benefits and pay are ok. About the same as everyone else. If you have another opportunity, consider the other opportunity first before Micron. I have worked with a lot of senior management as well as low level management there. Folks I know who left the company, actually left the industry as a result of working there. Leaving Engineering and going into totally different fields. Its a big company though, so there are good places and bad places to work. My experience is that there are far fewer good places than bad. Make sure you do your part to interview the managers and people you will work with. If they don't let you do that, then walk out and don't finish the interview. Good luck if you go to work there. It was a revolving door when I was there so keep your resume up to date. You never know when they will just walk you out the door. Check the news papers on the company to validate what I'm saying. It will be a real eye awakening experience. ---------I started in assembly pushing buttons, because even with a Bachelor of Comp. Engr., i couldn't even get a call about a spot in IS, IT, technician, software engineer in test, .... As 3

one might expect, i got very bored there, and eventually started to act out my anticipation for the 1 year cutoff before i could start looking for different work there. Since my supervisor didn't like me at all, and coworkers thought i was a threat and were generally annoyed with me, i got no positive remarks for team interaction (i was GREAT at the JOB), so i was passed over. No one i met there had a sense of humor about anything. i quit so my coworkers could get back to their slow, stupid ways. ---------Micron beware, in my experience with the company, management frequently reminded employees of how “lucky” they were to have their jobs. Managers extorted buy-in and compliance from employees by routinely threatening employees’ jobs. The members of my group each received a number of disturbing emails from management during my time there, which promised ‘immediate termination’ for making certain common errors. I considered this type of email to be terrorism, least of all poor (and ridiculous) management practice. Later, by his facial expression and bully-like attitude, it was clear that the manager who sent these mails enjoyed the effect of having instilled fear into his subordinates. The company ruled with an iron fist. I would only recommend working there if you enjoy being reminded of where you stand with regard to your socioeconomic status (and that it is decidedly lower than your manger’s) and cowering down to those in management who evidently have come under the illusion that they are on a deity level. I was disgusted with the way the HR department seemed to worship the upper management, speaking about them as though there was something sacred about them. Micron is a very ideologically conservative company. They do not seem to be racists, but in my experience, they actively discriminate against gay and lesbian employees. I lost my job in a layoff where about 1000 employees were let go (the company size was roughly 10,000 employees then). It was amazing how in my area, there were only a few known homosexuals but all of us were let go in that wave of layoffs. I do not believe it was a coincidence. Another thing that helped my layoff along was the fact that, because I was regarded to be gay by homophobic co-workers, it was extremely difficult to get assistance with anything or to learn valuable skills while on the job. Consequently, this made the decision of who to lay off an easy one. In the end, the red-necks got their way; they got rid of me just like they wanted to ever since my ‘outing.’ Because of the weak protections in Idaho, there is no legal recourse and they can continue to get away with the same thing. My advice is that if you are gay, then do not even apply for a job at Micron. The layoff came with a bundle of papers, a few of them gave instructions on how to receive a severance package. The extortion element of their management practice turned out to be ‘good to the last drop’: To receive a severance package (obviously a financial necessity for working people), one had to sign an agreement that included a promise not to sue Micron for any reason. So, the deal was this: Forgive us of our wrongdoings and we will let you eat and have shelter for another couple of months. I guess as long as the upper management can still sit back in soft leather chairs, it doesn't matter who suffers. Shame on you, Micron.

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