KLA-Tencor Reviews

Current Employee – been working at KLA-Tencor as an intern for less than a year

Pros – Large-size company, good setup and infrastructure, structured policies

Cons – You are one in too many people. You can most likely be recognized in your team only.

Current Employee – been working at KLA-Tencor full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Leading edge technology for engineers. Excellent benefits and stable job environment for such a cyclical industry. Very strong business processes that are valuable outside of KT.

Cons – Can be highly political which can limit career advancement. Operations is out sourcing outside US so opportunities are more limited now than 5-8 years ago. Engineering driven company, but less opportunities in other tracks.

Advice to Senior Management – Make sure you understand where the power lies. Understanding what the key executive management players care about is the key to long term success. Many of the Directors do not either understand or communicate this accurately to the management team.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at KLA-Tencor full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – Chances to stay and manage offshore staff
If you enjoy the administrative side of IT with lots of unwritten policies and procedures then there are opportunities to do that

Cons – Chances are high that you will be working alongside IT people who are disaffected and who suffer from low morale and lack the inclination to get things done
Poorly thought out policies and procedures which slow down customer engagement and kill motivation and innovation
Many managers protect their own turf, play political games with roles and responsibilities and constantly exaggerate and do the bare minimum. But they are protected so they never leave and the situation just gets worse for everyone else
Unfortunately has changed dramatically for the worst in the last few years. It's a terrible company to work for

Advice to Senior Management – Advice has been given in a multitude of surveys, meetings, focus groups, one on one sessions, group sessions. But it's wasted as no one cares and everyone suffers

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at KLA-Tencor full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Get excellent stock and cash bonus.

Cons – The company needs to bring more jobs back into the US.

Advice to Senior Management – I love the company.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at KLA-Tencor full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – I work for HR and I've read many of the reviews below. While I cannot go into much detail, what I'm hearing is consistent and is of no surprise.

Cons – We do have problems in IT and it's been persisting for several years. But we cannot just fire or reprimand managers because they're incompetent or below standard. Yes, there has been tremendous attrition, but this is symptomatic of the tremendous competition in the Valley for good people

Advice to Senior Management – If there are issues, the proper channel is through your HR rep

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at KLA-Tencor full-time

Pros – Awesome challenges. Great business. Lots of opportunity. Many great people.

Business unit leaders are great. Facing unique challenges with lots of opportunities to learn and grow.

Cons – Corp functions. HR is a bunch of functional silos that don't communicate. Too much politics. Not living core values.
Within the HR group there is a lack of trust and communication. The various functions aren't working as a team and personal agendas at the VP level are creating friction and tension between the functions.

Advice to Senior Management – Change values to include mutual trust and recognition. Leadership change in some corp functions.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at KLA-Tencor full-time

Pros – Exposure to an amazing amount of science & engineering & other processes that are needed to make a new hardware product.

Cons – Well, this is a great place to be if you are in the right group. Maybe the downside is the lack of a swimming pool?

Research requires a peaceful mind & sometimes too fast paced an environment can be counterproductive.

Too much documentation may not be a good thing.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at KLA-Tencor

Pros – Very talented employees - working on cutting-edge technology solutions
Well managed company contribute to overall stability
Work/Life balance
Employees wellness - highly promoted
Results driven organization

Cons – Mature company - less career growth opportunities

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at KLA-Tencor full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Company Stock Purchase Program
Company Profit Sharing
Great 401k management
Great health services advisement
Good communications on employee services
Good local support teams

Cons – Communication to management - sometimes obscured

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at KLA-Tencor full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – Flexible work structure, good work/life balance. Keeping employees healthy is promoted; onsite gym and wellness workshops.

Cons – Not much room for growth, frequent middle management changes and restructuring make it difficult to set meaningful yearly objectives. Working from home is frowned upon, even though all the technology is in place to make it possible.

Advice to Senior Management – Increase opportunities for growth at the individual contributor level.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend