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Applied Optoelectronics

Engaged Employer

Don't work for the company if you have any other choice. - Process Engineer Applied Optoelectronics Employee Review

1.0
Jun 30, 2010
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Only good thing here is, people are nice.

Cons

Company never rewards people as they should have. Company underpays a lot for most of the positions and I know lots of people here never got promotions after they worked more than five years for the company. Someone got a promotion on the title but nothing in terms of salary. There is a joke inside the company, "Fulltime job, parttime salary" When economy was down, the company cut 10% of the salary for all engineers and above and asked their employees to work 2 hrs overtime in force without paying any extra even if there was actually no work out there. So people ended up sitting in front of their computers, doing nothing but staring at their monitors. In 2009, they laid off 50% of the people and when they rehired some of them back, they only gave 70% of their prior salary. Company also tried to save cost by cutting benefits, not only the deductable is now incredibly higher, but employees even had to pay for their own insurance. If you have family with two kids, you need to pay at least 600 USD a month for the insurance. Company has very serious discriminations against people who don't speak and read English very well. If you are not good at English, company won't go with a standard procedure to make you pass probation simply because they don't want to give you a raise at all. However, for those who were born here or know how to complain, it will a totally different story. The workload is heavy and very stressful to meet the deadline. On average, an engineer needs to stay one more hour everyday and sometimes work on the weekend as well, of course, without anything extra. But, no matter how hard you worked, how many contributions you made, you won't get any bonus, nothing, not a penny. I've already got out of this ugly place whereas I am sorry for my friends who still work there, especially those who were treated unfairly. For those who are going to be here, please stay out of this company whatever there is another choice.

Explore other reviews about Applied Optoelectronics

5.0
Dec 14, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

A lol company that brings you nightmare?

Cons

A company that makes you pick a mental health insurance

1.0
Jul 16, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Growing industry, the Sugar Land headquarters is a nice facility.

Cons

The organization does not position itself as caring about the individual development of its individual people they need in order to stay around. The company is exclusively focused on the growth of the organization and meeting a staffing headcount, that it completely disregards the value of putting its actual people first. Then leadership has the audacity to wonder why the attrition is so high, especially from the non exempt departments. People will not stay here and deal with condescending leadership, passive aggressive or not, and inequitable pay for long hours and work task well above the titles you insist on keeping them in. Lack of a nepotism clause, lack of leadership or any real change initiatives, inequitable pay, condescending leadership, treatment of non exempt employees as a second class workforce.

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