Human Asset (stay) or Liability (gone yesterday) - Field Service Engineer Applied Materials Employee Review

2.0
10 Aug 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

ETEC division paid better than standard AMAT because ETEC's OT and on-call standards were inherited from Perkin-Elmer and AMAT was unable to move the ETEC non-exempts to AMAT salary standards without having a mass exodus of experienced people. Stock options were good when they were not "under water." Kaiser NW medical option was a great benefit! Good separation package at the time.

Cons

Lay-offs lurk at every downturn. Reviews are not based on your actual contribution to the business but rather on how an employee in a particular group fits on a performance curve. In other words, if everybody performs excellent in a group of 10, somebody has to fall into the standard or substandard area because the review is tied to the pay increase.

Explore other reviews about Applied Materials

5.0
15 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Friendliness Stock Purchase Benefits Culture Development

Cons

Hours Schedule Flexibility Relocation Salary

2.0
8 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Salary, I was compensated very well, the I hated working there so much that I resigned without anything even lined up. It was a good move for my mental health.

Cons

The leadership in general are not very intelligent, disorganized, and uncommunicative. They were decades behind in certain areas that lead to massive inefficiencies and overwork. (Out of respect I will not be specific). I suggested an improvement that would have taken task time down from 8 hours to virtually real time, but the executive Team, in their arrogance, did not allow me to implement the system. Sometime later, the cumbersome, unreliable system was not working and a deadline approaching. I worked 20 hours per day for 7 days and built an entire real time reporting system - then resigned. No one at AMAT was ever helpful. It always seemed an inconvenience to give a colleague outside ones group the time of day. I gained absolutely ZERO new skills or professional development at AMAT all my time there. Many of the employees at the time, including senior management, felt free to publicly express invectives against the current POTUS in their suffering TDS. Another reason I could not work in the environment. Rules for thee and not for me.

2
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