Recommend AMAT to your enemies - Anonymous employee Applied Materials Employee Review

1.0
Aug 30, 2010
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

High pay, well-recognized company but that's it.

Cons

Bonus is next to nothing. If you did the job well, you get a certificate saying something like "employee of the quarter" and a $100 check every quarter, pretty pathetic I would say. Bosses and middle managers are numerous. AMAT structure is an inverse triangle: the people actually doing the jobs are few while the managers are there just to point fingers. The managers are constantly scared of losing their jobs so they push you hard to produce good results. Then, the worst thing is to expect them to put their name on it and claim everything was their ideas to keep their jobs and their pocket full. Expect to work >60 hours per week (INCLUDING weekends) so if you are having a family, I would recommend to either find another job or to ask your parents/friends to look out for your husband/wife to make sure they are not cheating on you. Here is a funny term getting passed around in AMAT: "When you work for AMAT, if you are single, expect to continue to be single, if you are married, expect a divorce..." This is sad but I witness a lot of cases so I can attest the truthfulness in these sentences. If you told the managers you want to spend more time for the family, they would constantly stressing that the economy is not doing so well so expect to work more to keep your jobs.... Sometimes, they even have the nerve to say:"Ok, sure, why don't you go home early for today to spend time with your family ? But before that, can you do this for me ? " Expect to work until 10-11 PM to finish the things they assigned you. They constantly terrorize and harass you to make sure you get the jobs done. I was very stressed out during the time working at AMAT, enough to see a doctor... If you are the types who like to speak up and like to give out new ideas, expect to be shot down at those internal meetings. Be prepared to be bored during those meetings because most of the time it was about bosses fighting for influences and territories. The bottom line is: _ I left Applied for good and have never regretted my decision. _ Please refer AMAT to your enemies if you would like to see them suffer. I'm sure working for Applied would be worse than any punishment you could possibly give them....

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5.0
May 13, 2026
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CEO approval
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Pros

Wonderful staff - great company all around

Cons

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4.0
Jun 24, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good health insurance, pay is just enough to not quit, 4% 401k contribution gives 3% match, stock purchase program is 15% discount no annually. Work is hit and miss, sometimes your left to struggle and there very little support, other times things are planned out and well executed. This company promotes from within more often than not so there is a ladder to climb. The work is 12hr shifts which is good for long weekends, but if things are busy with lots of projects you will be asked to come in for overtime. 60hr weeks 2x a month is very common. You can say no, but it’s discouraged in a few ways 😉

Cons

Management is very hit and miss, for the last decade we’ve had the avg stay of a manger <1yr. If you have a good one, they get burnt out from unreasonable expectations, and if you have a bad one they’re so disconnected you get nothing out of it. As a whole, due to leadership being promoted from within they tend to be very resistant to making any changes to their system because it worked a decade ago. This industry moves rapidly, because it was the best a decade ago does not mean it’s the best today. The raise structure is silly. Every year they’ve changed to it to have more disconnect from you and the people who approve raises. Most managers claim they’re told how much each employee is getting from someone that the employee is never met, and then have to argue over how to distribute an additional 5% over the entire team. This means if you work as hard as you can, and really stand out from your peers, you can get an additional 2% for an annual raise and your manager will claim that the best possible.

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