Vantaggi
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, flex time. Facilities are excellent with multiple gyms available (at least in San Diego location). Norm is to provide an individual office for all engineers which I think is an excellent idea for engineering.
Svantaggi
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 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.