BASF reviews

-Salary is very low compared to other jobs with the same function in other companies in the city. -Incompetent leaders -Most of the leaders do not care about developing their people -Leaders are not open at all to new ideas or approaches. They prefer to do everything in the same way or in the most bureaucratic possible way. -More and more they are hiring more non-German speaker people but they have not adjusted yet that all meetings and massive emails are in English instead of German. This always gives the feeling of being in the wrong place - It also makes no sense to have to attend long meetings in German when you do not understand the language. -Top management does not get any formal evaluation or feedback regarding the TL and TS's performance as leaders (e.g. a 360º anonymous evaluation) so bad leaders stay long time. -Lack of involvement of the Team Leads/Specialists in the daily business. They are not really a support for the team when there is an issue with a customer, they try as much as possible to be safe and avoid any confrontation with them and prefer not interfere at all or always agree with them. -It is not possible to get a salary raise unless you are promoted to a new role that has a better salary assigment.

Most are specific to the San Diego location. - BASF Enzymes is a subsidiary of BASF. It's still the same old, poorly run startup (Verenium-acquired by BASF) that it once was. - Low pay: San Diego salaries are significantly below biotech industry standards. - No professional development: This is where innovation goes to die. New ideas are shut down unless they come from the very top. Bench level scientists are expected to be a pair of hands, no brain needed. You will be micromanaged to death. Any deviation from the department director's will (no matter how reasonable) is punished. - The desirable location in San Diego means there's always a long line of over-qualified people out the door, willing to work for pennies. Therefore, you see people with grad degrees becoming dishwashers or replacing robotic arms. It's a revolving door for new hires, while Verenium lifers stick around as they have nowhere else to go. - As big a name as they are in chemicals, BASF is a nobody in the enzymes business. The big goal is to garner 3% market share, and being a comodities company, they need to get there cheap: No need for innovation, just try to copy someone else and sell it cheaper. - Massive size: It's like working for the government. Things move at the pace of continents and nothing gets done in human years.