Avoid Verizon's San Jose office / OnCue at all costs
Pros
I work at Verizon's San Jose office (OnCue division). We used to be an independent start-up within Intel, called Intel Media, and then we got acquired by VZ, and the whole work experience went down the drain. All decisions--engineering, marketing, product--are now made by typical corporate warriors in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, with minimal innovation or attention to employees in Silicon Valley. Top executives managing VZ's Silicon Valley office all come from 15+ year corporate careers within VZ. If you are an engineer in Silicon Valley looking to change the world, would you be happy working for a company where--literally--all the shots are called by 15+ year corporate warriors in New Jersey? I doubt it. Also, when you join VZ, they give you all the typical corporate line, like you'll have a great career here. Yeah right. Corporate management in New Jersey does not care about employee development in the San Jose office. If you have a personal development goal, or if you want management to help you with any personal work issues, you will NOT get any support from management in New Jersey. To them, you are just another cog in the wheel, and they only care about their own corporate careers (remember, ALL managers VP and above have been with VZ for 15+ years, and these people only care about their own careers). The Silicon Valley office tries to do some innovation, and I appreciate OnCue executives' (original Intel Media execs, who are now all gone) efforts at innovating. However, the corporate politics is deep, and all innovation takes a back seat to corporate politics, and development delays are not uncommon due to corporate politics. If you are an engineer looking to change the world, or are looking to join a dynamic tech company, then skip Verizon's San Jose office. This place is only good for people who are satisfied being cogs in the corporate machine, or who just want job security. If you are an innovator, look elsewhere. If you are a young engineer, STEER CLEAR of Verizon's San Jose office... this is not a place for young people (imagine working out of Verizon's corporate office in New Jersey, that's what this feels like). Plenty of other options in Silicon Valley.
Cons
Verizon's Silicon Valley office is a glorified assembly line for VZ executives in New Jersey. You are told what to build by executives who've never worked in a real tech company, and who frankly don't give a damn about any rank-and-file employee in San Jose. As an example of poor culture in the San Jose office, as of 2015, only 2 of the original 10 Intel Media executives remain. All the rest have either been pushed out by Verizon or got fed up with Verizon and left. Lunch time conversations with rank-and-file employees almost ALWAYS touch on how horrible Verizon's culture is compared to what we had at Intel. It's actually funny seeing how much the average OnCue employee dislikes Verizon's corporate culture. As of 2015, almost everyone I spoke to who came from Intel has told me they are looking for new jobs on the side (especially the most talented ones). To many here, Verizon is more a steady pay check than a place to develop one's career in Silicon Valley. All-in-all, the cultural clash going from a 300-person start-up at Intel into corporate Verizon did NOT go well--primarily because Verizon came in and wiped clean the original Intel Media executive team, and installed their own VPs in black suits from New Jersey to run OnCue. Absolutely terrible cultural integration.
