I can't think of one good thing to say about Kaiser. - Business Analyst Kaiser Permanente Employee Review

1.0
Dec 17, 2010
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Other companies appear to like the fact that you have Kaiser experience (primarily because they are looking for trade secrets). Once you are in, your position is pretty secure as long as you perform the bare minimum required.

Cons

Rarely does Kaiser promote from within. Management does not listen to staff, treats staff extremely poorly. Often I feel as if my colleagues and I are being disciplined by management, as if we were school children in the principal's office. Management's condescending attitude really reflects the fact that morale here is low, and there is not much incentive to even try to do anything more than the bare minimum in terms of level of effort. The fact that management treats the staff so poorly and yet expects to be treated like gods is appaling. Even worse, contractors are treated like second class citizens to staff, and we lose a lot of good talent since there is a 12 month maximum rule that applies to contracted employees. The general environment and morale here is very low. There aren't many team building initiatives, and typically, if you ever question anything here, the answer is normally: "That is just Kaiser Kulture. Deal with it." If you have ever seen the movie "Office Space".... that is sort of what it is like here... but worse.

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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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