Pros
Upper Management values people and truly aims to make Synopsys a great company. They don't just say it, they mean it. They invest in their people. They require all managers to go through a set of courses called "managing at Synopsys" which is quite good. In the R&D ranks they promote from within and there is a lot of opportunity to grow and continually work on challenging projects. They thrive on innovation. It is a conservative company that offers a great work/life balance. Benefits are outstanding and there bonus program is very good. Systems and processes are very good.
Cons
If you are not in R&D the opportunities for growth are limited. If you are in a G&A groups you may be stuck in the same job forever. Because the culture is great, people stay forever and that is not helping the company. Many of those employees are complacent and not contributing much but because they have been there so long, they fly under the radar. If you like working with folks that are okay with being "average" then it's an okay place but if you want to work with A players, it may not be the best place. It is consensus driven company and the right decisions are often not made in that type of environment. Upper Mgt is very distant from reality as there are lots of layers of mgt. It is extremely top heavy with lot of people in Dir/VP level roles that have a great work life balance.