Old-fashioned, disconnected from reality top heavy management - Senior Engineer Applied Materials Employee Review

2.0
Jun 7, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Standard benefits, average market rate salary, can be better if you're lucky enough to be in a good group under good management.

Cons

Way too top heavy hierarchy, too many VPs, Senior Directors, Managing Directors who just all talk day in day out and never do any real work. Probably 50% of the work force are these senior management, only 20% of real working level engineers doing the actual WORK. CEO Gary disconnected from reality eliminating hybrid work, maybe because all he meets every day are the VPs under him who are paid well enough to be able to live anywhere close to company in expensive Bay Area. Very old-fashioned thinking in this day and age. Too many processes, approval flows which slows down everything, this stems from again too many Directors and above, who are implementing more and more approval steps to justify their existence. Your career path greatly depends on which team you're in and how good is your chain of managers. Difference can be no promotion for 5-6years vs promoted twice within the same timeframe, even for doing the same type of work and performing the same.

Explore other reviews about Applied Materials

5.0
Jun 10, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Fun/enagaging, team based and very welcoming. Tech company

Cons

Tech company, and the culture is unique

1.0
Jun 27, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

This is a company with a great future and overall many smart and talented work colleagues.

Cons

There are pockets of poorly managed teams and the Global Sourcing and Procurement Team is one of them. Working for GSP was a soul crushing experience. On a regular basis, I witnessed and experienced mobbing, gaslighting, bullying, senior leaders retaliating and weaponizing the 360 feedback program for their own personal gain, senior leaders taking credit for other peoples work, long tenured leaders abusing their relationships within HR, regular staff crying and people admitting to seeking professional help due to the toxic work environment…ptsd in GSP is real. And to top it off, Applied’s most senior leadership have known of these issues for years.

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