Pacific Biosciences Reviews

Former Employee – worked at Pacific Biosciences full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Everyone was super busy but always willing to help.
What you need is what you get.
Management for me was great but not for everyone and was the biggest complaint from most people

Cons – Sometimes very unreasonable timelines
The squeaky wheel gets the oil which is not necessarily a good thing because there are other things that can and should be prioritized

Advice to Senior Management – at this point, make your people feel like theyre not going to lose there job.

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

Current Employee – been working at Pacific Biosciences full-time

Pros – Great culture, everyone is super helpful.

Cons – Some longer term employees are struggeling but management is very supportive to help everyone understand its a temporary phase.

Advice to Senior Management – Dont change a thing.

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

Current Employee – been working at Pacific Biosciences full-time for less than a year

Pros – Very likeable friendly group of people who are fun to work with and know how to get things done. Very collaborative atmosphere with alot of learning and earning potential

Cons – The company is still very much early in the recovery process after getting over initial problems with product reliability and data consistency.

Advice to Senior Management – Keep things up beat!

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

Current Employee – been working at Pacific Biosciences full-time for less than a year

Pros – Instrument reliability significantly improved, new applications for the technology validated in scientific literature, no competitors in the long read sequencing space.

Cons – Sales are improving, but need to pick up the pace.
Early technological setbacks have hurt customer perceptions.

Advice to Senior Management – Increase visibility to potential customers; re-engage with prospects turned off by early-stage technology problems. Have a UGM-style symposium with a greater audience.

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

Former Employee – worked at Pacific Biosciences

Pros – I worked as a research intern at PacBio during one of my summers between years of college. I had a great time. This was my first time working in an industrial setting (as opposed to an academic/university lab). The nature of my team's work was very interesting. Though I was an intern, I contributed a lot to the project. Our project was written about in MIT's Technology Review and the New York Times! Through our Friday company meetings, I also learned about what it is like to work at a high growth tech startup that was preparing to go public in Fall 2010.

Great work, great people, great culture.

Cons – Just one thing. After they made me the offer, the recruiter hassled me a little bit about why I didn't immediately accept.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Pacific Biosciences

Pros – Pay is good. Benefits are excellent.

Cons – Company is disorganized. Information is not shared between groups. Some groups/people are doing redundant work.

Advice to Senior Management – Get organized

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Pacific Biosciences

Pros – - Smaller company feel
- For the most part, open door policy
- Food provided (kitchens, sandwich bar, frozen foods, etc), but who knows how long this will last.
- Upper management very communicative
- Makes you feel like you actually matter

Cons – - As with any company that grows, more structure is necessary.
- Forecast uncertain. Risk factor.
- The commute can be rough

Advice to Senior Management – - Don't lose the small company feel!
- Don't work your people to where things stop being fun.
- Lean manufacturing is an ok concept, but don't forget that the leaner you get, the more you can hurt yourself in the long run. You get what you pay for. Mfg more often than not seems to forget this truth.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Pacific Biosciences

Pros – Working on any start-up takes focus, excitement, and education.

Cons – Working out the bugs takes time.

Advice to Senior Management – When you start a new business, plan , plan, and then put it writing.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Pacific Biosciences

Pros – Technology works
Motivated workforce in certain areas
Company at least attempts to have "fun"

Cons – Lots of Silos within certain Departments
Lack of middle Management experience
At times nasty politics motivated by job security
Morale is not good due to high expectations of stock value
Certain departments like consumables, instrument and chemistry will ultimately go offshore; limited job security

Advice to Senior Management – Perhaps Hugh does, or does not, realize BS from the truth coming from certain Directors and VP's. Most people are not drinking the Kool-Aid!

Current Employee – been working at Pacific Biosciences

Pros – Excellent team that is fun and inspiring to work with. Awesome product that will have an impact on the world.

Cons – PacBio is not an easy place to work: the pace is fast and everyone is expected to contribute at a high level.

Advice to Senior Management – Help the team bond as it grows, evolve the processes as we scale, and keep the excellent momentum and spirit healthy.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend