Be prepared for hazing - Pharmacy Technician II Kaiser Permanente Employee Review

3.0
Feb 14, 2010
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The number one reason to work for Kaiser is the superior pay rate for pharmacy technicians compared with other employers and the outstanding benefits package for full time employees. Generally, co-workers are pleasant, but to be safe, you can't consider them your friends (you can't speak freely because you never know who you can trust).

Cons

In one word: management. Upper management is notorious for making poor decisions without consulting the people whom those decisions will affect; often they are so bad that the decisions have to be reversed because the fallout turns out to be intolerable. Middle management (mail order department in particular) creates a hostile work environment, harasses employees, berates employees for "drinking too much water" or "going to the bathroom too much." If you are not presently engaged in a conversation with a patient, you're vulnerable to being accused of not working (despite the fact that there are numerous tasks that need to be completed that do not involve conversing with patients). These are not the experiences of merely one employee, or even of a minority. Employees of the mail order department banded together and formed a petition against the department supervisor for these abuses and others (those who weren't too intimidated to add their signature).

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5.0
Apr 16, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Flexible, interesting work, lot of resources

Cons

Very complex internal systems, lor of bureaucracy

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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