Ignorant managers with no technical skills - Mechanical Design Engineer KLA Employee Review

1.0
Apr 10, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good subsidized lunch meals 3 day work

Cons

1) Managers are worst. Management is absolutely insane. Managers are big headed bosses who like to sit on a chair & give orders. They have zero technical skills & knowledge. Few directors have always been managers & did not grow from technical background. So they lack basic idea of problem solving. They are obnoxious and highly egoistic. Entire time you will have to serve their big headed & empty headed ego. 2) They cheat you with the role. They put up their job requirements as mechanical design engineer, however their job role should be project management. All of their designs & core mechanical engineering is handled by outsourced companies in countries like Netherlands etc. As a mechanical design engineer at KLA, all you will do is manage what the others are doing, ordering tools like torque wrench which should be done by procurement teams, managing time schedule and nonsense. You won't even open CAD tools or do any basic engg hand calc to substantiate any design. As a design engineer you will only get to work with stupid shipping boxes & carts (4 frames with 4 wheels). You will also be asked to measure clean room floor dimensions. This is not a mechanical design engineer job. This is the job of facilities team. They misinform you. Probably none of the upper management knows what mechanical design engineer means. All you will do is make storyboard & present others work in reviews. In that also the upper management will fuss over "why in reviewers list, this person is not present, cancel the entire review, put this person's name and then we will do." Such unproductive and idiotic people & things. 3) In your interviews you will not be asked even a single technical question because the hiring managers most of them have zero technical knowledge. They don't even know what to ask. For that they need some knowledge which they don't have. 4) Worst place if you really want to learn or do something in life. Worst work culture. Toxic at times because of the management. Had to take therapy to cope with the idiotic toxic management.

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5.0
Jun 10, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Strong technical depth and industry leadership. Talented colleagues and meaningful work.

Cons

Organizational processes can be relatively conservative. The skills developed are highly valuable within semiconductor equipment and imaging-related industries but may be less directly transferable to unrelated sectors.

1.0
May 5, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

If you’re looking for a place where accountability doesn’t exist and you can do the bare minimum while getting paid maximum overtime, this is your spot. No approval needed, no questions asked—just stay late, watch YouTube, and collect your paycheck (plus free food if you linger long enough). Weekends are basically a free-for-all since the people who are supposed to supervise are either absent or the worst offenders.

Cons

This place is what happens when a parent company buys a smaller one and then completely forgets it exists. There is zero meaningful oversight. Management knows exactly what’s going on—they just don’t care as long as quotas are eventually met. Efficiency, integrity, and actual productivity mean nothing here. Documentation is either nonexistent or completely useless, full of errors and missing critical information. Parts are constantly missing, and instead of fixing the system, people exploit it to justify delays and stretch their hours. The entire operation rewards time-wasting over competence. The culture actively punishes anyone who tries to work a normal, honest 8-hour day. Want recognition or a raise? Better start padding your hours. The more time you burn, the more management “appreciates” you. It’s not about results—it’s about how long you can pretend to be working. Managers, being salaried, conveniently disappear when it matters most—nights and weekends—while turning a blind eye to the dysfunction they fully understand. Leadership isn’t absent by accident; it’s absent by choice.

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