Good products, good intentions, but too bureaucratic and run by too many technologists without good business sense - Director, Biz Dev Applied Materials Employee Review

4.0
17 Feb 2012
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good oportunities for growth Pay and benefits were pretty good Good intentions to divesify into solar and solidify lead in semi Great opportunity to change the game in semis with a focus on service (but don't thnk they will execute)

Cons

Lots of bureaucracy make it diffuclt to really get things done CFO is very powerful in the company, almost seems to be running it like a PE-owned biz Senior execs (corporate VP and above) have good risk-taking appetite, but mid-level management (MD to VP level) are not very business savvy and can not think through issues enough to take risk Disfucntional decision making (e.g. formal meetings where decisions are not made and then real decisions are made 1:1 where the real experts are not there to opine Stock not moving in 10+ years, CEO making +$10M/yr, other C-levels making $5M/yr -- where is accountability???

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5.0
15 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Friendliness Stock Purchase Benefits Culture Development

Cons

Hours Schedule Flexibility Relocation Salary

4.0
25 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Strong place to start your career. If you do the Fusion Program you will learn a lot. Good training and benefits. Amazing Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Coworkers are smart and grounded people.

Cons

Stingy with salary, raises, and promotions. The engineer roles are broken up into Jr and Senior so the title progression goes Engineer I, I Sr, II, II Sr, etc which slows career progression and pay. Only the CA office gets extra pay due to the expense of living there, even if the MA office is expensive.

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