Lam Research reviews

Numerous teams are siloed. Communication and cooperation between various teams is severely lacking. Leads to overwhelming process and workflow timelines as well as finger pointing between teams and individuals. Management is either 15+ years with Lam or <5 year. Leads to vastly conflicting ideologies and cultures within teams and groups. Work life balance has declined rapidly within last 5 years. And with layoffs and outsourcing most of the manufacturing overseas, the silo-ing of teams, poor communication, and management has run rampant. HR and ER cases are seldom responded to in a timely manner and retaliation for reaching out to HR regarding workplace is rampant as well.

I used to think the prevalence of long-tenured employees was inspiring. After a few years I came to see how it sabotages the culture. Senior leaders fall into one of two categories: 20+ year veterans that have spent the vast majority of their career at Lam, and transplants from elsewhere with <5 years at the company. The former are entitled autocrats while the latter are helpless sycophants. That combination stifles progress on the things that matter to employees and their workplace experience. The only decisions made with any haste are budgetary, and designed primarily with shareholders in mind. Austerity has been the rule for 2+ years while the stock price has doubled. So postponed promotions and delayed salary increases disproportionately impact the bottom 90% of employees, while executives continue to bank huge equity compensation from restock performance.