Does Not Follow Gilead Core Values - Specialist Kite Pharma Employee Review

2.0
Feb 20, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Benefits and pay for full time employees, free snacks/drinks

Cons

So many cons, where do I start... I guess the (1) main con would be that those who are in management/leadership positions don't really know how to do their job. And this, as you would think, impacts everybody below them. (1) We have people in management making decisions for people on the floor, when these so-called leaders don't actually know anything about the daily routine and context of the job. They say things like "you work on the floor every day, you know your work best, let us know what we need in order to help you." And when you ask for help or offer suggestions, management will say something like, "Does that really impact your job?" (Ummm... Yes??? That's why I'm bringing it up in the first place?) There's absolutely no trust... We'll say things like "We're understaffed, we need help, we need more people." And management will go in the opposite direction and downsize the group instead. (2) Management is also full of people who got there because they lied in their interviews about their work experience OR because they know someone who they used to work, who helped them get the job. It's all about the connections... There is one person (probably more to be honest) in management who got several bad annual reviews and several employee complaints (which went directly to managers and directors), yet this person still remains at Kite. This same person has also bullied/manipulated/gaslighted/mistreated their subordinates and still, nothing has been done. Kite will probably see this and claim that they take these "allegations" seriously, but it's already been proven that there are no repercussions to employees who are toxic and negatively affect those around them. (3) Oh, and another thing about management. They don't value their contractors. They work hard and get the lowest minimum pay Kite can give, nothing else. This is the very thing that will demoralize someone, causing them to lose motivation for the job. This leads to poor performance... Leads to them leaving to a better job. And in turn, makes the FTE/trainers suffer when they have to train someone new more often than needed (a new contractor who might not even last). Oh, and some teams are made of 50-60% contractors. A lot of these contractors' contracts end in March 2021... It's February 2021... And management STILL HAS NO ANSWER on whether or not these people will have a job or not in 4 weeks. I haven't seen this level of procrastination since college when I started my homework AFTER it was due. (4) Not much room for growth. (low chance of being promoted, low chance of cross-training) (5) Almost every department is understaffed... (6) Kind of hard for lateral movement (to other depts), some supervisors/managers will get in your way if you try to leave.

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Kite Pharma Response
5y
Hi, this is Matt Hostetler. I’d like to speak more about some of the things you wrote in your review – please reach out to me directly to set up time. Our culture at Kite is extremely important to me and to every single member of the Kite Leadership Team. This is why we’ve dedicated specific key performance indictors (KPIs) related to culture as part of our 2021 metrics. We’ll be measuring our progress and holding ourselves accountable every step of the way. I look forward to sharing more about this when we speak.

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5.0
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Recommend
CEO approval
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Pros

Amazing staff and growth potential

Cons

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1.0
Jun 16, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Benefits from the parent company are the only pros here.

Cons

The work environment is extremely toxic and hostile towards those that are efficient and good at their responsibilities and roles. The workplace favors extreme incompetence across manufacturing, technical training and quality departments. I’ve never seen a company where associates can get into physical altercations and still keep their jobs. The people leaders that tried to hide that altercation should be cut immediately but that’s not what they like to do over at kite pharma where instead of focusing on the cure they like to focus on other people’s bodies. They like to reward incompetence with less responsibilities and praise while those who are competent enough get reprimanded with made up lies. There’s no point in providing feedback to the people leaders because they will twist your words in order to make it so that it looks like you are going against their precious core values. It doesn’t matter what you say because once they’ve made up their minds that you’re not exhibiting enough teamwork and inclusion then that’s it. If you’re not competent enough at your job then for sure there will big bonuses and raises waiting at year end review. People leaders will absolutely twist and turn the HR processes that are designed to protect personnel against them. There’s a lot of heavy abuse when it comes to making a complaint against any individual. Lots of biases involved since it seems that no one at this company have friends outside of work so they take everything as a personal attack on their “friends”. Lots of individuals needs to be tiptoed around on eggshells or they might get offended at the slightest breeze, people leaders don’t see that these people are the problem but insist on turning a blind eye labeling it as anti-inclusive , anti-teamwork, anti-collaboration and whatnot. Never know when the next person is going to get offended and start acting like they have been a victim their entire life

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