HMO and Big Business, one in the same. - Senior Analyst Kaiser Permanente Employee Review

4.0
Aug 31, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Kaiser Permanente is a good company to learn about how large scale entities work. Multiple hospitals are managed and jobs are classified as a facility, regional, or national level due to the large scope of the management. After maybe about 6 months, you begin to see where you fit in the puzzle of things, since projects around here tend to move at snail pace (as with any large scale company). You'll be proud to identify yourself as working for a company that is highly visible to the community. That benefits package is top-notch, but expected of a healthcare profession. The ETO policy is not too shaggy either starting you at 21 days per year.

Cons

It's a hit or miss on whether you find your middle management competent and worth your attention. Many disgruntled employees roam the halls because of mismanagement and misguided attention. Well....what's new anyway, that can be seen mostly anywhere, but here it's also prevalent. The way that information is passed down from upper management can also be seen as a mystery to employees lower on the totem pole. At the bottom, you would see many employees just happy to be employed and earning a paycheck, caring less about work, and more about what is going on after work. And now the select few who are allowed to sit in with the big dogs, and get a taste of project management. After about 5 years of this, you can now consider yourself Kaiserized at this point. Most people at this company work outside of their job titles. At the same time, some people barely satisfy it, yet they still have the same job title as YOU do.

Explore other reviews about Kaiser Permanente

5.0
Mar 12, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Hands on experience, get to be more-or-less independent, everyone on the floor is very kind and wants you to learn

Cons

Not allowed to work more than two 8 hour shifts a week

4.0
Sep 9, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Kaiser is a great place to work and build a career over time. In my experience salaries are above market for most positions, and the benefits are so good that many people become "lifers". The health coverage is extremely generous, and time off starts off adequate and gets better over time (18 days when you start, moving up to 33 after 15+ years - this does not include sick time). Employees truly believe in the mission of KP (at least, I do) and it's clear that this is a place where employees' contributions are valued. Although my role is not part of any of the unions, the fact that our workforce is predominantly unionized also places a positive role in KP's reputation as a good place for workers (although having unionized staff also presents many challenges). Overall, I enjoy working at KP and would recommend it to others, but understand that you are entering a big bureaucracy. A friendly, mission-driven bureaucracy, but still.

Cons

Cons: having lots of "lifers" means that innovative ideas and workflows are not always adopted without a fight. People have their roles deeply embedded here, and any threat to the status quo is seen as negative, even though we need to make some pretty radical changes given the new health care environment post-ACA. There's a lot of "not my job" attitudes here. It's hard to navigate the layers of bureaucracy, both in terms of personnel/HR/benefits, and in getting work done (there are often 4-5 departments at the regional and national KP levels working on similar areas, and no guidance on who does what.) Be aware that KP is not immune to reorganizations and layoffs -- they do make a good attempt to ensure workers are hired elsewhere in the organization, but there are no guarantees, and there can be a lot of turnover in certain departments. Benefits are currently generous but are always subject to downgrades in the future, so just be aware of that. Some changes to the pension and retiree medical benefits are about to hit, and with them a wave of Baby Boomers will be taking retirement, which should hopefully open up many new management opportunities for Millennials. Oh, and the biggest con of all: we still - STILL - use Lotus Notes for email. Shocking, I know, but true.

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