What is the salary like at IMEC (Belgium)?

Good pay, good benefits. Plenty of autonomy.

Working in shifts and with chemicals is bad for your health. Direct management literally told me to adapt to the kafkaesque and bureaucratic company structure or I'd never be able to grow internally. People are expected to work without questioning procedures or rules (even if it concerns their safety). Aside from that, they motive workers to rat out one another whenever mistakes are made.

Work culture is very good

The pay is competitive but can be more considering the inflation in Leuven

Great ambitious projects with futuristic impact.

The workind style and salaries are not great.

International, work life balance depending on the position is generally good depending on your manager.

This place is essentially a public sector establishment disguised as a company. It is immediately evident that employees behave as if they work in the public sector: no sense of urgency, not even for critical projects. They are far from being considered a proper company within the semicon industry, while they don't even function as a proper academic establishment - research is anything but cutting edge. Old and unavailable tools, poor contam protocols, you end up spending your time teaching people proper industry WoW. Their PR is clearly top-notch, having convinced all big players to have a small team on campus, however reality hits you hard from day 1 if you work there. Things just don't move. I'm not even delving into the huge mess the FAB team is. Horrible. Salary and benefits are ~30% lower than the industry standard. Company car policy is a joke and kicks in above Team Leader level (industry partners give full leases to above-junior engineers). Very political place with limited growth opportunities unless you know the right people. Promotions are not decided on merit at all. If you value your career, be it academic or industry, steer clear of this place. Better work for either a reputable company or a good Uni.

Relatively good salaries for payroll (1,000 Eur for interns) and a great work-life balance. There are no fixed schedules, and you manage your time as you see fit. Naturally, you must still bring in results, There seems to be a good amount of vacations ( about one month, perhaps more). There are plenty of educational / mental health workshops, and other events throughout the year: 2 PhD Exhibits and a summer festival. The canteen has budget-friendly options (3-5 Eur), but also great portions of multicultural meals for a fair price (6 - 8 Eur per meal). Great infrastructure and a pleasing natural environment within buildings. HR is also remarkably competent and reliable.

In general, team management is good, however there may be over-hiring of interns at times, thus leaving some without a desk to work at. There's desks spread across departments, but there could be more, it's too great of a place not to work at. Mechanics team was severely understaffed, and since you always require their approval it may be a hassle to deal with. IT support team has multiple faulty machines, and you may need to actively switch PCs.

Great work life balance, wonderful learning environment.

salary could be better given the expensive accommodation in Leuven.

Dynamic, research focussed, international, flexible

Slow growth, relatively lower salary

Relaxed atmosphere, helpful and knowledgeable colleagues, elastic working hours, everybody speaks English, the lab facilities are world-class, the pay is decent, you event get an expensive business laptop + a big set of accessories.

The meals at the cafeteria are a little monotonous (though they are also subsidized 50% by the company).

Relaxed work environment and opportunity to work with highly educated and skilled colleagues.

Overall pay could be better.

Good facilities found in campus

low salary compared to industry