Varian Medical Systems Reviews

Varian is a complacent "good ol' boy" organization that's come a long way, but still has a long way to go. The old Varian was heavily relationship focused while the new Varian compensated by going too far in the other direction with metrics. Adding metrics to guide them was a good thing, but they went overboard focusing on each and every single tree--losing sight of the forest. And somewhere along the line in all of it, they lost their heart. At points, you feel like you work for the evil empire.

Unfortunately, Varian seems to be firmly out of touch with its Silicon Valley environs. To start, infrastructure around the campus (from hardware to software) harken back decades and modernization does not seem to be a priority. Company practices and corporate systems are archaic and not up-to-date with industry standards which is very frustrating. Varian almost seems to embrace its disinterest in being current and this attitude affects the culture, employee attraction and employee retention. Compensation is also very out of touch especially for a company operating in the heart of Silicon Valley. Many employees question the compensation structure at Varian but management has never taken any action. Good employees will leave Varian because compensation restructuring is not addressed. I learned that the company targets the 50% percentile when it comes to compensation; not exactly forward thinking. Also, Varian does not offer bonuses or stock grants which are standard offerings at other medical device companies in the area.