Amyris reviews

3.5

64% would recommend to a friend

(351 total reviews)
avatar

Kathy Fortmann

74% approve of CEO

47% positive business outlook

Amyris has an employee rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars, based on 351 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Amyris employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

351 reviews
3.0
Jan 23, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

It's honestly not a terrible job - I get paid great and for the most part don't work a ton of hours unlike other reviewers. You get a 401k with up to 6% match (as of now) and most folks you'll encounter are generally really cooperative and good to work with.

Cons

Managers, VP and C-Suite seem to have no idea what they are doing...sometimes it feels like a seed stage startup with the atrocious financials and the whipsawing from one thing to the next. As other reviews state, they have an issue paying vendors. On top of that, the corporate credit card constantly has issues, bonuses are always late - and as of recently they cancelled raises. And I think bonuses, too. So many departments are siloed, everyone has their own idea of how things should be despite the endless documentation you are making for folks. None of it seems to be followed. A LOT of meetings, where pretty much higher ups like to ramble and talk about nothing of significance.

1.0
Jun 21, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good employee discounts to consumer brands. Pay is competitive, and quarterly bonus structure is nice.

Cons

Management has no ability to prioritize or set a vision - teams scramble around working on the day's fire drill or someone's temporary priority. Projects are kicked off as urgent but then abandoned because no one really had a plan. New priorities arrive as texts on Saturday afternoons, because the CEO had an idea. Everything is about chasing the zeitgeist or trying to do what other companies are doing, never establishing a unique company positioning. They talk a big game about being visionaries in sustainability, but not really doing anything unique.

3.0
Jul 15, 2018

Great place to learn the science of industrial synthetic biology

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The company has some of the very best technical minds in industrial synthetic biology. From the science side, it is a fantastic place (5 stars). The outside perspective that Amyris' scientific talent has been decimated by key people leaving for the likes of Zymergen and Ginkgo is way off base. Yes people have left, but the scientific bench is incredibly deep and they continue to recruit some of the very best to fill gaps. One of the most important things I can say about Amyris is that they are one of the few synthetic biology companies that has taken multiple products from the lab into manufacturing and then sold them to customers. If you want to learn the science and skills necessary to do this, it's the very best place in the world. A lot of the science done at places like Ginkgo is fun and interesting, but not particularly relevant to pushing products from the lab to manufacturing and the market. As many others have said, the benefits and culture are good. The people are warm, welcoming and helpful.

Cons

The CEO continually overpromises and sets the company up to underdeliver. He is exceptionally good at raising money and that's probably the only reason the Board of Directors hasn't removed him. Hopefully, some of the new additions to the executive team and the Board of Directors can restrain the CEO's natural tendencies or make the tough choice to replace him. The work-life balance is off more than it should be. The further you are from the science side of the company, the less fun it is.

Viewing 4 - 6 of 351 Reviews

Glassdoor has 520 Amyris reviews submitted anonymously by Amyris employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Amyris is right for you.