Workplace reviews and discussion: MStar_晨星半導體股份有限公司

Seeing everyone discuss this so enthusiastically, I’ll share my thoughts as well.

In Morningstar’s early startup period, the era was dominated by the three founders (Steve, Sterling & Henry), with Steve holding all the power. As a result, putting costs first in the early days and maintaining a flat organization were foundations established by Steve.

Because costs came first, even the laboratory equipment was purchased on eBay, and orders were made while trying to avoid TSMC whenever possible. Because the organization was flat, there was almost no friction between departments, collaboration was highly efficient, and everyone had a chance to be called into Steve’s office to watch him roar.

Also, because the stock was valuable, everyone worked very hard. There were not many concerns about working hours at the time; everyone voluntarily worked until midnight, then came to work after 10 the next day.

In addition, the schedule was extremely tight, and everyone worked quickly, so it took only a few months from kickoff to project tape-out. Everyone was accustomed to this pace as well.

The advantage was that we could seize the market before our competitors. The disadvantage was that if a mistake was made, the resulting product could become junk and waste money. I saw several junk products come out; the most famous was Iron 8. When it was released, all its functions worked normally, but its leakage current was too high, so it could not be sold. This issue could have been identified in the initial simulation, but no one ran it, and afterward no one was held responsible either. It simply became a taboo among the executives, and no one mentioned it again (you need sufficient seniority to know about this).

As a result, the company adopted an authoritarian management style in its early days: if a subordinate made a mistake, it would be reviewed and criticized; if an executive made a mistake, no one mentioned it.

Later, in 2010, due to the issue of going public, two of the three founders joined forces with external shareholders to launch a coup and force Steve to step down, successfully taking the company public. At that point, Morningstar still retained its early belief in putting costs first. Everyone still had a heavy workload, though working hours were not yet monitored. However, because stock-based compensation began to be expensed, incomes started to decline.

The real turning point came after MediaTek acquired Morningstar. HR’s influence rose, and it began closely monitoring working hours, requiring employees to arrive at the company before 9:10 a.m. But the company’s senior management inherited Morningstar’s early philosophy of putting costs first, so they did not want to hire more people and instead demanded that employees leave work later.

However, given the current pay, although it is better than that of most companies (but lower than GG & M), it is still far lower than before the IPO, so some people began to feel that the cost-performance ratio was declining. Consequently, Morningstar’s turnover rate has started to rise over the past two years, and new hires have become increasingly difficult to find.

Therefore, if you want to learn technical skills and make it easier to find a job in the future, Morningstar is a good choice. But you must be mentally prepared: you have to stay for at least three years to learn enough technical skills and receive the full bonus. If you do not receive the full bonus, Morningstar’s pay will not be higher than that of other companies.

If you want to work regular hours, Morningstar is not suitable for you, except for a small number of departments (such as Product Operations). You should give up early.

Also, the things mentioned in the previous posts are all true. I experienced some of them and heard about others, but they are all things of the past. Now, because new hires are difficult to find and older employees are difficult to retain, things have gradually started to improve. If you believe these issues will disappear one by one in the future, I recommend taking this opportunity: now is the easiest time to get into Morningstar. If all these issues disappear in the future, it may become impossible to get in.

However, be aware that HR will deduct six months to a year from your seniority. Therefore, people with greater seniority should be mentally prepared: after joining, their salary may actually be lower than at their previous company.