Competitive company supplying a mature industry. - Principal Research Scientist KLA Employee Review

4.0
Nov 20, 2012
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good benefits Opportunities for engineers and scientists to work on bleeding edge tech aimed at semiconductor manufacturing. Customer demand pushes the R&D and engineering to very short wavelengths, very fast robotics and positioning, wicked fast image processing, and very precise measurements..

Cons

The bottom line is the first line. SemiCap equipment is very cyclical, and KLAC is well known in Silicon Valley for laying people off whenever there's a downturn. There is a reputation, whose truth varies from division to division, of this leading to people and groups hoarding skills and information to make them irreplaceable and layoff-resistant. To be fair, I've heard this mostly from ex-KLAC employees. The location in Milpitas at the McCarthy Ranch intersection of 237 and 880 can be a commute nightmare More and more manufacturing has been shipped overseas, so there is significant 24/7 drift in requirements for senior people to be up early or late for meetings with Europe, Israael, China, etc.

Explore other reviews about KLA

5.0
Jul 16, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Wonderful experience, great company to work

Cons

No complaints, well structured, great time

1.0
Jul 19, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

While the salary and compensation packages are competitive, make no mistake: this is merely a desperate mechanism to slow down their revolving door of high turnover. They do not offer good pay because KLA is a great place to work. Instead, they simply throw money at people as a retention tactic because they will do absolutely anything to stop employees from quitting

Cons

If KLA approaches you for a job, you must ensure that you end up doing the work you applied for. This is especially critical if they relocate you. Otherwise, you will find yourself trapped in a role you absolutely despise for two miserable years. In my entire career, KLA has by far the worst corporate culture I have ever experienced. They possess absolutely no desire to mentor or develop their talent. Frankly, KLA is where promising talent goes to die, completely buried under endless corporate politics and quite frankly racism. The company is plagued by incompetent managers and directors, leaving a massive, gaping void where leadership should be. Furthermore, do not believe the praise you read online. All of these positive reviews are written by H1B employees who genuinely believe they will advance their careers if they just suck up to management or leave a dishonest five-star rating.

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