Samsung Semiconductor Reviews in Austin, TX Area

Pros

Samsung Austin Semiconductor has a great group of hard working people who make going to work everyday worth while. Good to see a company that can outsource jobs to the USA.

Cons

If you are afraid of hard work or having to put in lots OT at times you may want to find another company to work for.

Advice to Senior Management

Internal software leaves much to be desired, there is a alot of wasted time due to some of the half-bake systems that are pushed out.

Pros

Good benefits and comprable pay to the industry in general.

Cons

Hard work and effort aren't rewarded. What is rewarded is who you know and how well you get along with the managers. You can be out of a job before you know it, without any sound reasoning. you can be removed to make room for someone else if the manager wants to keep them instead of you. I've seen it done several times. Don't ever feel secure working for this company!

Advice to Senior Management

Realise that your perception of how well the floor runs isn't always true. You have good people who contribute grestly to your goals while you give credit to others....

Pros

Working in Austin is great.
Benefits seemed great at the beginning, before I realized what was up.

Cons

There is definitely a clash of cultures in the workplace. The Korean work ethic (though I admire it at times) is incompatible with Americans. I was working upwards of 70 hour weeks and was still reprimanded by my superiors for lack of effort. My last performance assessment was FAR below what it rightfully should have been. The rating system they use is incredibly biased and needs to be re-calibrated.

Advice to Senior Management

Diversify the management

Pros

You would be hard pressed to find a company that offers a benefits package. WHEN S.T.A.R bonus is achieved, it is a nice addition to your salary. There is something about saying that you work or have worked at SAS that makes you feel proud and important.

Cons

The Korean work ethic and the American work ethic couldn't be more different. The sheer number of Korean ex-pats causes unrealistic expectations across the board. Poor communication between employees and management. Reviews, promotions, and disciplinary action can all be questionable depending on the person involved. You are lead to believe that family is as important to them as it is to you, but choices between your family and your job are all too often expected of you.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to your employees and don't perpetuate the disconnect between them and yourselves.

Pros

benefits and pay are fantastic. recently scaled back for cost reductions.

Cons

poor sr. management, low morale, recent downsizing is ethically questionable. employee scores unsustantiated, denial of unemployment benefits.

Advice to Senior Management

Honesty

Pros

Pay is acceptable. Benefits are good.

Cons

Once you start, don't ever expect to move up or get another pay raise. There is way too much politics involved. I understand that sometimes when things are difficult for a company they try to expect more out of their employees, but usually it's a good idea to use a little logic.

Advice to Senior Management

When you give your employees nothing to work towards the people who can leave will. The most talented will find outher jobs. What you are left with is people who have to be there. They won't remain because they are dedicated or the most qualified, only because they are afraid.

Pros

The benefits were definitely a big plus, but even they were cut back and the bonus goals were adjusted to be completely unachievable by the current operating capacity of the fabs. The location was very good, Austin was a great city with a wide variety of attractions and entertainment.

Cons

Upper management is almost entirely Korean with no representation of women or other minorities. The Korean work ethic and culture is not entirely compatible with the American work ethic and culture. The company sought out ex-military personnel, but were intimidated by any kind of strong negativity, especially from women. The company manipulated reviews to prevent having to declare lay-offs (over a hundred people received 'bad' reviews and were fired) and many people were told not to seek unemployment and were told to sign a contract that they would not seek legal counsel or go to the media. All in all, the pay was very good, the hours were very long, middle level technicians frequently took credit for the work of younger technicians and portrayed those technicians in a negative light with management, and you could expect to not be appreciated or promoted for at least 5 years.

Advice to Senior Management

Hire some diverse, American Senior Management. Remember where your workers are from, respect your workers culture and work ethic (the American work ethic is very strong, we get the work done and expect to go home, not get the work done then do 8 more hours of busy work). Listen to what your workers are saying, stop trying to get the work of 4 technicians from a single technician.

Pros

Reasonable salary compensation. Very competitive benefits package. Job security .... as long as your salary range doesn't get too high.

Cons

Career growth is completely time-based and rarely geared towards actual performance. Previous in industry experience means nothing. Management focus is underwhelming and the politicking is highly demotivating. Message from HR department is "we don't care about talent ... we just want robots who will serve their time."

Advice to Senior Management

Fight for the people that you value ... or expect all of your talent to leave.

Pros

The pay and benefits is very competitive compared to similar companies. The USA fab is located in Austin, TX which is a very nice place to live and raise a family

Cons

You are expected to work long hours with no added benefit. Management is not very clear as to what the priorities are for the company and it's employees. There is a high level of under the table bargaining when it comes to getting projects approved. The HR department is not handled very well. The overall feeling of the work environment is very negative. The manufacturing group is very uncooperative with the engineering group.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep a close eye on how individual unit parts are being managed and step in to make necessary changes when needed.

Pros

Lots of work in a young fab provides excellent raining opportunities. Some groups are very flexible with members, giving lots of leeway in how your job is performed as long as results are good. The company has previously been very employee focused, although that started to decrease when Fab 2 opened and has all but vanished as of late 2008. Health insurance is still great, the time off accumulation is decent, although you lose any unused time off when the year ends. The large variety of jobs in the company ensure that you can find a role that fits you well.

Cons

Working with the members from HQ from Korea can produce friction, with American management and Korean management both senior and lower having different plans and ideas.
Samsung was formerly considered one of the best places in Austin to work in semiconductor, but with the recent layoffs (combined with a production increase-less people and more work) and benefit reductions, we are now on par with or worse than many other Austin tech companies.
The promotion system for technicians has been recently changed, so that Techs can expect to work as a low level tech for many years before ever getting promoted, and promotion percentages are determined by HR, not by job performance or skill level.

Advice to Senior Management

Remember that it is high quality people who made Fab2 the most successful line in Samsung. If you continue to let HR run amok, you will drive off the same people who made that happen.