Standing alone, squeezed between customer and KLA-Tencor, "fighting" both at the same time. - Applications KLA Employee Review

2.0
Jan 13, 2012
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Technical leadership over competitors and continuous R&D investment - Company has a strong financial base and knows which way it's heading - Salary is usually OK

Cons

- Kafkaesque administration, with lots of little rules and online forms to fill in, on usually very unstable and slow servers, which are very difficult to access from outside the office. E.g.: An expense report for a short 2-days biz trip can take ages to be finished and then even longer to go through expense approval. Be prepared to "lend" Thousands of dollars for 6 or 7 months to the company if you're in for a longer biz trip. - The philosophy is: "in case of doubt, sack first, ask (yourself) questions later"... Or another one: "rules matter more than people". - Like most US companies: hypocrite to the bone; issuing "values" that their employees are supposed to follow, while the company is happily ignoring them. - Not trustworthy; doesn't keep promises (even if they're written down, signed, etc...), unless you really fight for it. - Promotion is not based on merit but on politics

Explore other reviews about KLA

5.0
Jul 5, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Everything is good and awesome

Cons

Nothing to complaint about very good atmosphere

1.0
May 5, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

If you’re looking for a place where accountability doesn’t exist and you can do the bare minimum while getting paid maximum overtime, this is your spot. No approval needed, no questions asked—just stay late, watch YouTube, and collect your paycheck (plus free food if you linger long enough). Weekends are basically a free-for-all since the people who are supposed to supervise are either absent or the worst offenders.

Cons

This place is what happens when a parent company buys a smaller one and then completely forgets it exists. There is zero meaningful oversight. Management knows exactly what’s going on—they just don’t care as long as quotas are eventually met. Efficiency, integrity, and actual productivity mean nothing here. Documentation is either nonexistent or completely useless, full of errors and missing critical information. Parts are constantly missing, and instead of fixing the system, people exploit it to justify delays and stretch their hours. The entire operation rewards time-wasting over competence. The culture actively punishes anyone who tries to work a normal, honest 8-hour day. Want recognition or a raise? Better start padding your hours. The more time you burn, the more management “appreciates” you. It’s not about results—it’s about how long you can pretend to be working. Managers, being salaried, conveniently disappear when it matters most—nights and weekends—while turning a blind eye to the dysfunction they fully understand. Leadership isn’t absent by accident; it’s absent by choice.

3
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