Teknova Reviews

3.2

51% would recommend to a friend

(78 total reviews)
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Stephen Gunstream

57% approve of CEO

44% positive business outlook

Teknova has an employee rating of 3.2 out of 5 stars, based on 78 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Teknova employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Manufacturing industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

78 reviews
1.0
19 Mar 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The technicians and some supervisors there were nice to work with.

Cons

Everything is determined on the whims of the executives. If they want something done, they will do whatever it takes to ship out a product, whether the product be accurate in terms of documentation, procedures or chemicals used. However, when something bites the company back (recall, improper documentation issues, customer care), the executives are quick to yell at the technicians and the supervisors despite having telling them to do otherwise. Combine that with the fact that they pressure to limit overtime while asking the workers to complete inhumane amounts of work at times is the reason why there is such a high turnover rate in this company. The working conditions are also unbearable. At summer, technicians had to work inside a lab that had no AC at 95F+ weather, fully gowned. I am surprised no one had a heatstroke. I do not know if this has changed. They also forced a couple of people to work with dangerous chemicals and/or equipment without proper procedures/gowning. I agree with many of the other posters that safety is a big issue in this company. Pay is lower than average in my opinion. 401k is average if you work 5+ years in this company. I would never work here again. I do not recommend anyone to work here.

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Teknova Response
8y
Thank you for providing candid feedback. We are glad that you enjoyed working with your fellow technicians and supervisors. We are sorry to hear that you had poor experiences in other areas. The Executive Team continually drives change and improvement. Having the fastest turn-around time in the industry along with embracing and driving change are two of our core values. Those values can make for a very dynamic and fast-paced working environment. To meet our productions goals and not only meet but exceed the expectations of our customers, from time-to-time we may need to find a creative solution or approach. We appreciate you brining up concerns about the working conditions, as we have mentioned in previous responses we have a committee of managers that meet monthly to review safety items, and implement changes. We also welcome suggestions from our teams, whether they come through safety suggestion boxes, or through our open door policy. We take safety very seriously and want every employee to feel safe when they work. We did have quite a heat wave last year that affected some of our labs. We took many precautions to ensure that all of the techs were safe while they worked. We are very happy to say that we are in the process of installing a brand new HVAC system in those labs. Techs working in those areas will be very comfortable this summer.
1.0
14 Feb 2017

Poorly organized and run company.

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

It's a job. Nothing really enjoyable. They did promote being active which meant taking a break and walking around the block around lunch time, when you were already supposed to be clocked off for lunch.

Cons

Very unprofessional and unorganized business. Ran into some ethical issues and ended up leaving job as things were not being run according to protocols. Very bad thing to have when you run a company based on following protocols and instructions for making specialized media.

1.0
28 Sept 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Technicians are hard working and wonderful people, as is much of lower and middle management. Easy communication between departments, who work hard together to overcome countless obstacles. Very positive working relationships.

Cons

Recent drop in staff has created severe workload, yet overtime is heavily discouraged, causing stress throughout the company. Safety is always the last concern of upper management. Most recent example being moving a dozen people into a nonventilated concrete room to work with hazardous fuming chemicals in the middle of summer.

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Teknova Response
8y
Safety is a top priority at Teknova. The company management team holds monthly safety meetings to review concerns, get feedback and suggestions, improve practices and procedures, and discuss progress. Safety Suggestion boxes are checked several times each week and are available for employees to make anonymous suggestions. In addition, Teknova has an open door policy for employees to make suggestions to their manager, HR or the executive management team at any time. All employees are extensively trained for each of their respective work areas to ensure that they are able to perform their work safely. Fume hoods, ventilation systems, respirators, and additional Personal Protective Equipment are provided for employees working with or around specific chemicals.
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Glassdoor has 82 Teknova reviews submitted anonymously by Teknova employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Teknova is right for you.