Bad management with outdated technology. - Marketing Data Analyst Kaiser Permanente Employee Review

2.0
Jun 13, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The mission of the company and benefits. I do like kaiser Permanente hospitals.

Cons

Note: this review is for KP corporate. I am sorry to say that the manager I had was the worst I’ve ever had. Unprofessional, sexist (favoring male employees), micromanaged, disrespectful, poor communication skills, aggressive, did not have employee interests at heart and did not understand the details of what the team worked on. This was not just my opinion; most people who worked under her found her extremely difficult to work with and I know of 6 employees during my time who left because of her. I will say that the company is huge so you could get lucky with a good manager. You’ll really have to pay attention during the recruiting process. The team was not close and the environment was quite toxic, which is different than how the recruiting process portrayed. The technology at kaiser is lacking and behind. They were still using lotus notes when I was there and the way they manipulate spreadsheets is very inefficient. Culture discourages asking questions and making changes that could make processes more efficient. I was a data analyst and when one of my goals was to learn sql my manager did not understand why. What kind of data analyst in this day and age doesn’t use sql? The growth opportunity is just not there and you’re really not marketable to other companies. I got the sense that they want a quiet cog in the wheel, which is fine if that’s the type of person you are. This is how it’s always been done so that’s how we do it mentality. It seemed like people were threatened by new and smart talent. A lot of older employees at corporate do not like millennials. It was so stressful and mind numbing that I got physically sick. I had to take medical leave because of my poor health resulting in the high stress, which was approved by my doctor. The week I got back, the manager put me on a performance improvement plan. I would think that’s probably against the law but I didn’t press charges. I just found it ironic that this happened at a company in the health industry. Would not recommend unless you’re okay with playing politics, an older demographic, slow technology, possible bad managers, and possibly boring / tedious work. Overall, my personal opinion is that there are better places to work in the Bay Area.

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5.0
Jan 25, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good pay Excellent benefits Management cares about each employee Work life balance

Cons

Little room for growth- given to those who have a family member working in high levels within company

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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