Vantaggi
i worked on many interesting projects and my co-workers, by and large, were all great people.
Svantaggi
It really helps if you are a member of the ATS Alumni; if you are not, then you will be one of the first to be laid off during the next (and inevitable) work slowdown. It is the nature of the automation business; layoffs happen every couple of years. If you are asked to travel to the US, be very careful. I volunteered to take on a project that would require me to spend a few weeks in the US. The company provided me with, "business visitor" paperwork which when I attempted to enter the US, Customs decided it was, "suspicious and unsatisfactory". I was treated very badly, like a criminal, by them and was forced wait around for hours and then forced to be fingerprinted and photographed. I was not allowed entry and had to turn around back to Canada and as a result, I ended up on the US Customs "watch list" and on several occasions afterwards while on vacation, I was interrogated and delayed (almost missing our flights) when my wife and were on vacation. It was very humiliating to say the least, having never, ever had problems travelling to the US before. Despite my pleas for help to correct my situation, Eclipse would not lift a finger or provide any sort of legal support or council to correct my situation, which was entirely their fault. The impression that I was left with was that they just did not care that this issue would also carry over into my personal travel plans in the future. It was unbelievable that any employer would treat any employee in such a callous and careless fashion. It was not long after that episode that things slowed down and the layoffs began (again). They put me on, "temporary layoff" for the next several months, finally laying me off permanently. When layoffs occur, the controls designers are among the first to be laid off, unless you are lucky enough to be a member of the ATS Alumni, in which case you'll probably be kept on . They never lay off programmers, as maybe good ones are harder to find.