Very Disorganized! If you don't work in Germany you aren't an asset
Pros
People in US are very nice. Location in Somerset is easy to get to (traffic can be rough on 287) No overtime ever needed.
Cons
Everything is controlled in Germany. You must check in with Germany to get everything approved You can not make decisions and implement them without the OK from Germany IT department in US does not have access to do anything. They must send requests to Germany to do the most basic tasks, like loading Windows on a laptop. IT department in Germany is very slow and not very skilled. E-mail servers are down all the time. Took a month to get a login after start date. Very status level concious. Management in US and Germany are constantly reminding staff that they are the UPPER management and the rest of the staff is not. Only place I have ever worked that you call people by Mr. or Ms. Sales are OK, but costs to implement are too high. Equipment and parts have to be verified in Germany and then shipped to US. Costs are just too high. The "Just-Do-It" attitude that is widely accepted is the USA, is frowned upon and discouraged by Germany. You must go through the proper channels to get anything done. If you are a staff engineer, for example, you may never contact a manager in Germany. Your US manager must contact them. Matrix management will never work here.
