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Agilent Technologies

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"Transformation" Growing Pains - Project Manager Agilent Technologies Employee Review

3.0
Jul 20, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Agilent has a strong culture and hires from within. Many members of Senior Management (directors, AVP's, and above) have risen through the ranks and have some sort of "ownership" and personal stake in the company. - The best performing teams are cohesive and extremely productive. Good teammates bend over backwards for each other to go above and beyond for support. - Strong individual contribution demonstrate world-class knowledge while maintaining a humble attitude. - Excellent output & world class science. To be a contributor to develop the world best scientific instruments is incredible. Access to a literal world expert is minutes away.

Cons

- Teams are cohesive because they are small and often under-staffed. This results in cross-training across interesting disciplines but the teams are time-pressed all the time. - Management often bites off more than they can chew in terms of deliverables. However this is often because the customer-facing organizations are insulated away from the solutions units (SU's). The interactions are toxic because of this high pressure. - The amount of processes and paperwork needed for simple tasks are ridiculous. And even if there is a "paperwork process" it doesn't cover the transfer of information effectively or routed to the correct stakeholders (it still has to be done manually after a lot of "preparation" to understand the process). - Non-productive personnel stick around too long and have poor business acumen. There are many folks who are overpaid, serve no purpose, and do not help generate revenue. - Pay is inadequate for successful output and thought leadership produced by winning teams.

Explore other reviews about Agilent Technologies

5.0
Jun 22, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good teammates, work life balance and salary

Cons

None i could think of

1.0
Jul 20, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

As everyone says in the reviews, the rank and file employees are generally great to work with and are highly competent. The company has a cool history in Silicon Valley.

Cons

-Comments on this site about the deterioration in the culture since the CEO transition are true. It's changed from collaborative to combative. -Priority projects get outsize funding but go nowhere. For example, a year was spent overhauling the main website, only to unveil a new one that is substantially worse if not an outright embarrassment (complete with graphics borrowed from the early 2000s). -Layoffs happen semi-regularly, with many jobs cut permanently and others transferred to countries in Asia with cheap labor. -Leadership believes in a "superstar" philosophy, giving huge sums of compensation to a select few hires they think can transform their business (only for them to flop within several months). -Communication is poor. Enterprise communications is led by someone with no self awareness (Dunning-Kruger effect). CEO communications are stilted and filled with corporate jargon nonsense about "transformation." -Stock has failed to gain despite two years of investment and cost cutting. Meanwhile, competitors like Waters continue to make gains and pose a threat to the company's market share. -Lost an important IP case that will likely result in loss of market share in one of their fastest-growing businesses (all of this is public, just Google it). -C-suite leadership is often distant and remote. Rarely mingle with employees.

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