Does there seem to be diversity at Keyence?

Good pay and working with other young people

Embedded management that has only ever worked at Keyence

Good training, liked the travel

Not a lot of diversity in the workforce. 90% white males

Pros are the people you work with on a daily basis. The products are good as well. The pay is good coming right out of college, but can stagnate

Keyence is a machine. All the company cares about is numbers, and that is what you are. Promotion heavily depends on what area/product line you were assigned. The Sensors product line has over 300 sales reps, meaning there is heavy competition for about 15 promotions. Whereas the Machine Vision line has a lot less people therefore a lot more room for growth. Nothing managers/directors can do to help you get promoted. All based on metrics. No such thing as a work life balance if you want to succeed. Very little diversity here at keyence as well. Office was 90 percent caucasian

Good money on the face of it

Absolutely horrific work life balance. The amount of hours you put in completely undermines the money you earn. Toxic environment there is absolutely no diversity. Travel to meetings at Stockley Park is mandatory and done on your time, regardless of which office you’re in. Think you can finish early to catch a flight home, think again. You must be in the office at 8:30am even if you’ve driven 5 hours from Newcastle/Scotland/Wales/Manchester/East coast/ flown in from Ireland. You must be visiting customers during working hours (8:30-5:15) and you drive home in your own time. Absolutely no leniency for personal circumstances. You must keep high KPIs regardless of holiday (over achieve on visits to make up for the annual leave you’re about to take which will pull your average down) The management structure is constantly crumbling in on itself, middle management leave and the gap never gets filled so it’s down to us to figure things out and fend for ourselves HR and management are unqualified to deal with anything outside daily business and offer no solid support past a bit of superficial empathy

The customer visits and time spent on the road can be enjoyable aspects of the role. In contrast, office days and the general working environment tend to be less positive. The base pay is good, though bonus structures have declined over time. There’s a sense of camaraderie among colleagues, largely due to shared challenges and pressures experienced in the role.

MICROMANAGEMENT: Regardless of performance, micromanagement is a consistent feature of the work culture. Whether targets are being hit or missed, oversight remains heavy-handed. This approach can create a demoralising environment and gives the impression that individual success is met with skepticism rather than support. Over time, many employees become desensitised to it, but it has had a noticeable negative impact on morale and, for some, mental well-being. Constructive feedback tends to be one-sided—quick to criticise, rarely offering praise. WOMEN AT KEYENCE: As reflected in multiple previous reviews, the company’s track record of handling misconduct is poor. Reports of sexual harassment have allegedly been mishandled, with complainants often feeling unsupported or even forced out. Conversations with female employees suggest a pervasive anxiety, with many expressing concern not over if something might happen, but when will it happen. Senior leadership has, at times, reportedly made inappropriate or discriminatory remarks, further entrenching a culture that feels unwelcoming to women. Flexible working arrangements are extremely limited, particularly for those considering starting a family, which poses challenges for long-term career planning regardless of gender. HIGH TURNOVER: Turnover is extremely high, especially on the sales side. While the workload is intense, the more likely cause appears to be deeper issues within the company’s culture, such as a lack of trust, limited support, and minimal regard for employee retention. A transactional attitude toward staff has led many to view the role as a short-term stepping stone rather than a sustainable career path. LUCK-BASED PERFORMANCE: Success in sales can be highly dependent on the territory assigned. Some areas have large, active accounts, while others are significantly less promising. Despite these differences, performance expectations remain uniform, which can feel unfair and demotivating for those in more challenging regions. MANAGEMENT: The quality of management varies widely. Many leaders were promoted when the company was small and handed out promotions like candy, meaning there are quite a few managers that aren’t any good, leading to inconsistencies in competence. While there are genuinely strong managers, they often leave, leaving teams under the leadership of individuals who may not be suited to the role. Unfortunately, long tenure appears to offer job security regardless of effectiveness, making change difficult. QUANTITY OVER QUALITY: Due to high turnover, the average tenure of sales staff is relatively short, often not long enough to fully master the technical products or market. This skills gap has shifted the company’s focus toward volume—more calls, more visits—over strategic, informed selling. As a result, a significant portion of daily activity can feel repetitive and lacking in purpose. OVERALL: The general sentiment among employees tends to be one of transition—many are either actively looking to leave or have already moved on. While the role may offer value as a short-term experience or resume builder, most of the cultural and structural challenges mentioned above inevitably begin to take their toll. Proceed with realistic expectations.

You get to live in Chicago for 6-8 weeks to train Any job after this one will be a walk in the park.

Let me make this simple. I speak for a vast majority of this company when I say: -There is a reason there is such a high and consistent turnover rate here. That isn’t normal. You will be put through HELL. 12+ hour days are typical. -EXTREME micro management. You will be treated like a child and managers/trainers are your parents. Your calls, call minutes, demos, and even meetings will be nit picked. Expect calls from your manager before/after business hours, having to explain every detail of calls you had with customers and let them rip into you. Expect extremely unprofessional/borderline harassment when it comes to “managing styles”. (This can of course vary by division, state, etc. but VERY common.) -ZERO work/life balance. 9 times out of 10 you will be given a territory that is a different state or states, or the middle of nowhere 2-4 hours from your home. You’re expected to be there 3 days a week with 1 day in office. Good luck scheduling appointments/having time to take care of yourself or your family. -“Sleep is for the weak” mentalities everywhere. They praise working crazy hours and everyone who has been here a long time is severely depressed. I’m all for working hard, and putting in effort especially if you know what sales is about, but this place is truly unethical with workload and expectations. -The ONLY thing they flex here is money and how “rare” it is to be paid well. It’s so bizzare and embarrassing as sales directors will tell new hires they love this job because they “make more money than their friends”. They bring it up in every chance they can get. I guess no one here has heard of medical device sales or your average insect repellent sales. The money here is insanely average for sales and LOW for the workload. It’s only above average for a first year position. -Their recruiting game is obvious. They go after post-college grads because the entry level pay IS above average for 22 year olds looking for their first job. They’re then manipulated into thinking they’ll never do as well anywhere else. It’s sad. -The pipeline here isn’t real. You go up in levels as a sales engineer until you hit manager. This takes forever and if there’s no spots open good luck. Also, you do the SAME EXACT JOB AS YOUR MANAGER. Managers who have been here 10+ years are cold calling, begging to get into places, selling, troubleshooting, everything they did on day one as a new employee, just managing on top of that. You will do the same job basically forever. Never heard of a company like that. -ZERO company culture. Typical depressing aesthetic here. The most “culture” you’ll get here is a PowerPoint on how amazing the company is and a happy hour at your local tap house once every 2 months. Oh and maybe a store bought cake for someone’s bday in the lunch room. That’s about it. The ONLY thing people here talk about is work. Like it’s their whole life, because it is. -you don’t make commission here. Just bonuses based on your ranking. So we’ll go ahead and slave our lives away selling 1M in product for you a year so we can get about $30k in bonus. This isn’t real sales. -Top performers here are rewarded with more work and OCCASIONAL pay raise. It’s really easy to move up early on but then it plateaus. -they lie and say they don’t lay off anyone here but keyence and I both know that’s not true. Hard working employees hitting numbers put on PIPs left and right for no reason. -there are NO perks besides basic benefits of healthcare/dental care. No presidents club for top performers, no referral bonuses, nothing. Look the overall message here is if you want to get into sales and you’re a hard worker/don’t mind a grind there are HUNDREDS of better companies out there to work for that provide just as intense training, and are highly reputable, have amazing products, but actually value their employees and PAY THEM WELL. Don’t let these people manipulate you into thinking they pay their employees “a lot”. Go work for a company who will send you and a plus one to Hawaii for hitting top numbers, not one who will double your goal so you don’t get paid as much the next year, and give you $150 after taxes for “sales person of the year” There are places that have culture, and respect a work/life balance and treat you like an adult. This place ain’t it.