Kaiser is the mother of all bureaucracies. An "old girl network" is holding back needed reform. - Senior Program Manager Kaiser Permanente Employee Review

2.0
22 Jan 2011
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You don't have to be very good to do well here; it's nice to know that you don't have to perform at 100% every day to do well. It's actually commendable that you can have an "off season", maybe something in your private life is dragging you down for months, and at Kaiser it's OK. Another genuince pro is that some of the work Kaiser does, such as the Community Benefit organization, seems genuinely altruistic toward the communities Kaiser is present in and is the sort of thing more big companies should be doing.

Cons

There are quite a lot of downsides, although none of them absolute showstoppers (so I'm still here). Kaiser is an opaque bureaucracy worse than any I've seen elsewhere, and that includes government organizations in the 3rd world. The culture reveres the idea of "partnering" and consensus seeking, which in practice seems to almost guarantee a lack of clear decisions or paths of escalation for problem resolution. Problems and issues don't get resolved at Kaiser, they just linger and morph and come back every year, with a slightly different twist. So there is a huge and unending amount of re-inventing the wheel here. I think top management is aware of these problems, and there are growing attempts at reform. However, much of the middle and senior management in Kaiser is dominated by a sort of "old girls network" and this network does not want change. They're comfortable, counting the days to retirement, and since change would take them out of their comfort zone, they steadfastly resist it. Too much of the work and budget within Program Offices is ultimately decided on the basis of personal relationships, and not on the basis of quantitative measures. Honestly I don't think a lot of the P.O. management understands common accounting measures, I know for a fact that many cannot compute a simple ROI (return on investment), which is a travesty.

Explore other reviews about Kaiser Permanente

5.0
27 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

They have a great work culture, it's clear that people on every level truly care for the patients they serve.

Cons

There was no negotiation for my salary, though this is likely due to the temporary nature (this is not a full-time position)

4.0
9 Sept 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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