Illumina Reviews

Cons

Not found any yet

Cons

Getting to work from the 805 is tough but the company does offer alot of transportation options.

Cons

Changes are too constant and sometime previous efforts are wasted

Cons

1) Base salary is low. What is more raise is non existent..2 percent at max. So there is no incentive to work hard. If you get promoted it is only 5 to 6 percent. So you do the math. Promotion is based either on being friends with management( you get promoted in an year) or based on number of years worked( so nothing to do with performance).

2) The development team is good. But elsewhere in the organization you are basically a tool or a resource to get job done with zero visibility and recognition. Your management has zero idea about what you are doing and how much you are contributing. The functional managers are the real people driving the company but then you have a bunch of people manager whose role is not clear. They are the ones deciding your fate and you hardly speak to them other than 1 on 1 as they work on broad business projects and has no direct relation to the product. You report to them so that 3 years down the line they get promoted due to having a bloated team and can just say that his team delivered this product.

Cons

Never enough time to do a good job

Cons

hierarchy, difficult to advance, lab positions are demanding

Cons

- Transitioning from being a contractor to a full-time employee was awkward because as a contractor you aren’t included in events early in your time here that are crucial in building friendships and camaraderie
- Though I mentioned the positive progress here above, diversity and representation in the technical side of the company is still an issue—we are revolutionizing human health and need diverse perspectives to avoid biasing our impact

Cons

Slow decision making processes, direction sometimes unclear

Cons

As its been some months since I left Illumina, this has been a valuable time to reflect on my employee experience there. I am going to say it is how it was back then. Illumina had a theme of "over-hiring". They hired Directors in lower roles, promising them the world but did not follow through, which is partly why I left and I know others have left too.

There are many problems with Illumina, similar to other growing organisations, which are acceptable and have been covered by other reviews. Some of these include a real lack of planning by the business, little or no communication by the business to their teams, commercial divisions holding all the power globally, but one of the major problems with Illumina that hasn't been highlighted by any ex-San Diego HR employee on Glassdoor, is the lack of support, recognition or encouragement to build your own identity/brand in the Regions (Asia and Europe) despite the regions bringing in 45%+ of revenue.

Regional HR were not appreciated or recognized although they kept reaching out to HQ for more global collaboration. I wasn't promoted at Illumina despite over-achieving because I chose not to take sides and was viewed as one of the odd ones out. It was worse for the regions so much so that conversations of HR leaders included not promoting someone in local HR as they were seen to be difficult by HR in HQ. I saw it as being proactive and pleading for collaboration but HR leadership saw this as being difficult. As an example, every leader in the Talent Acquisition department was promoted in America but there was a conscious bias not to promote in Asia or Europe. Illumina kept beating the equity drum but that disappeared when it came to the regions. HR in San Diego was divided and this worked against some of us as we were expected to take sides. At times, it was very political and I felt I had to take a side or it would jeopardize my career. I chose the right side in the argument and was penalized anyway. The HRIS and Compensation & Benefits groups were untouchable. What they said was the rule and were protected by a leader who saw no wrong in the staff. Wow, right!? HR Operations regionally were incredible and so were Talent Acquisition. They struggled to be heard then.

Cons

Some department despite of the amazing company wide culture are trapped into a lot of politics and they don't utilize existing talent on their fleet!