KLA-Tencor Reviews

I worked at KLA-Tencor

Pros – Easy work environment
Low expectation from management
Not much pressure as long as you play the political game

Cons – Poor leadership in the IT organization with lots of politics
Senior management more interested in keeping their jobs than doing the right thing
Management addresses poor execution by consultants by blaming the employees and rewarding the consultants with more business
Having been at KLA for so long, did not realize how bad things were until I left and saw how other IT organizations function

Advice to Senior Management – Stop believing you guys are very good and go see how efficient and effective other IT organizations are.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at KLA-Tencor

Pros – Company builds high quality metrology and defect inspection products. They plan their product life cycle well. They have a good application/marketing team that figure out what the industry needs, and a excellent engineer team that build really amazing tools and software. The salary, benefits and educational opportunities are very good.

Cons – There are a lot of tribal knowledge, that some older workers hold on to for job security, and makes it hard for new people to get up to speed and contribute. It's a good company that has lots of cash, so it hire people that are over qualified for their role, and as a result, can get bored.

Advice to Senior Management – Make good use of your employee's talents. There are a number of very smart people that are stuck in boring jobs that doesn't make use of their skills. There are many technical people with Ph.D that want to do technical work. Not every one wants to go to marketing and sales, make technical career path possible for people who wants to persue it.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at KLA-Tencor

Pros – Upper management has good holistic view of company. Good compensation and benefits. Good fitness center and health advice and benefits.

Cons – Sometimes communication and overall direction at lower management level seems confused or variable. Makes project completion difficult as target moves.

Advice to Senior Management – I have had 3 managers in 3 years, of which one was very capable. the other 2 not so much.

I have been working at KLA-Tencor

Pros – * Flexible work hours
* Nice market segment
* Research driven work

Cons – * Not a very young and dynamic environment
* Things take a huge amount of time from initial idea to final productization

Advice to Senior Management – NA

I worked at KLA-Tencor

Pros – Benefits were above average when I was there
Internal training is a plus
Company gym was refurbished and is of a good quality

Cons – Arbitrary performance evaluations
Poor managers who exhibit unprofessional behavior
Work is unstimulating
Continued push to outsource and demand more and more for less and less

Advice to Senior Management – Treat people with respect and dignity. The values that were upheld in the past no longer seem to matter. I hear the same thing from people who are still there. it continues to get worse

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I worked at KLA-Tencor

Pros – The business is doing well and there are people outside of IT who who value your work

Cons – Difficult to know where to start when the management is just so appallingly bad. Complete and utter unappreciation for your efforts. Increased use of offshoring and lack of management accountability. Management is very quick to take credit for other peoples work. Projects are managed poorly. People here do not manage. They co-ordinate. The bar is set so low. No motivation for people to improve

Advice to Senior Management – Managememt is making everyones life a misery. You are not helping people grow. You are just in it for yourself

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I worked at KLA-Tencor

Pros – As a software engineer, the work was interesting. My management looked to me for most of the technical direction of our product, which was satisfying. My requests for resources and purchases (e.g. laptops, books, commercial software utilities) were never denied.

Cons – During my 3.5 years at KLA-Tencor two of my managers were put on performance warnings and ultimately dismissed from the company. My last (third and final) manager was put on performance warning after 8 months, which is the reason I resigned and took a position elsewhere. I don't consider it professional to give the details of the aberrant behavior I witnessed from my managers. I will just say my experience was bizarre and unsettling.

As an individual contributor, I only interacted with the lower levels of management (line-management up through mid-level management), so the more senior managers may not have the issues I witnessed.

I am giving the KLA-Tencor's CEO (Rick Wallace) a low rating because all I can really judge him on is the culture he created that I worked in (described above) and the value of KLA-Tencor's stock during my time at the company. When I started the price of KLA-Tencor stock was $50/share, and on my last day it was $39/share.

Advice to Senior Management – Why were so many of my mangers put on performance warning and ultimately dismissed from the company? I would have stayed with you a bit longer if it weren't for the aberrant behavior of my managers.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I worked at KLA-Tencor

Pros – Extremely dedicated, intelligent, and talented employees make for a great place to learn.

The company tends to place responsibility on the individual which gives ample room to grow in one's role and develop strong relationships with team members.

Cons – While it is amazing to work with so many talented and intelligent people you may find it difficult to move within, and the company in general tends to run a pretty tight ship.

You really should have a passion (or be willing to develop one) in technology to enjoy your work here (can be a pro depending on how you look at it).

Are absolutely obsessed with meetings and there are many passionate if not outright confrontational-type personalities so be prepared, especially if you're not used to this environment.

The campus is isolated in Milpitas and transportation from other parts of the Bay Area is not great, but this may be a broader concern for the Bay Area in general.

I worked at KLA-Tencor

Pros – Good compensation if you consider bonus and profit sharing. Highly regarded top management and excellent training. Vacation and sick leave are merged into "paid time off" which can increase vacation time if you don't use much sick leave.

Cons – There seems to be quite a few reorganizations which can be a god or a bad thing depending on how you feel about your current management. Hours can be long, but probably on par with other Silicon Valley employees.

Advice to Senior Management – I would try to limit reorganizations when possible and try to maintain staffing levels a little higher even at the expense of a slight hit to profit.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at KLA-Tencor

Pros – stable
market leader
smart people
friendly working environment

Cons – no growth
no clear career path
Cheap

Advice to Senior Management – expend to new market, new technology