Kite Pharma reviews

3.7

64% would recommend to a friend

(502 total reviews)
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Cindy Perettie

71% approve of CEO

52% positive business outlook

Kite Pharma has an employee rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars, based on 502 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Kite Pharma employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

502 reviews
2.0
Mar 14, 2021

KLT so white!

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

401k, transportation & health benefits, covid support

Cons

I echo what most reviews say on here that management is unqualified. A lot of hires come from Amgen and go to Kite to get bloated titles but have zero idea how to do the work. But it’s not just Amgen alumni now. Since 2019 there has been a “dumbing down” happening at Kite. Even at the leadership level, recent hires are definitely less qualified than their predecessors. But I’d like to focus on the culture at Kite. Diversity and inclusion here are just lip service. Leadership likes to tell us that they stand by people of color, but take a look at the leadership team. Diversity only applies to staff-level. Preaching inclusion and “advancing black leadership” kinda falls flat when the KLT (and their -1s) severely lacks diversity. Also, people of color do not need to be schooled on diversity by a bunch of white people in HR (this literally happened in our group when someone asked about the propel program).

1.0
Jul 15, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Location. Commuter Benefits. Office Space.

Cons

I have worked in this industry for 18 years and have never encountered such an awful employee experience. The turnover at the leadership level is constant. The new CEO came onboard and got rid of her entire leadership team. She then hired unqualified leaders that lack integrity, lack the necessary experience, and promote a racist and sexist workplace. I have never felt more uncomfortable in a workplace than I do currently. Women are overlooked for promotions and often times they are displaced only to be replaced by less experienced and less competent men. I have witnessed 2 of my male colleagues repeatedly talk down to female colleagues and no one ever addresses their behavior. Women are disrespected and their opinions are often ignored in meetings. In many ways it feels like a 1960s workplace where women were viewed as "less than" their male counterparts. I also echo the prior reviews here: Diversity is non-existent at this company. I even heard an employee joke recently that they should pay HR a bonus if they hire a person of color because it never happens. When a person of color is hired they are often photographed for the website and print materials to give the illusion of diversity but then they leave because they are passed over for promotions and not given the same opportunities as the white employees. My colleagues have often raised concerns to HR about the hostile work environment but their concerns are never addressed and then they are retaliated against. I have seen leaders say and do things that are so unethical that it makes me question why I joined this company every day. Leaders do not care about their teams and they lack empathy and character. Employees at all levels are undervalued and under appreciated. Many of the top performing employees have left because the culture is toxic and they said it was affecting their overall health and wellbeing. The leaders here say that they care about patients but they only make decisions that are based on making money and cutting corners- the patients are not considered when large decisions are made that negatively impact their care. The salary, bonus, and stock are competitive but the years of my life that I have wasted working for these awful human beings is not worth the money. Please take my advice and do not consider joining this company. Once the pandemic is over and my stock is fully vested, I plan to look for a new job because this company is the worst place I have ever worked. I am a highly educated, high performing employee and wish I would have done more research before taking a risk and leaving a great company to come to Kite where racism and sexism run rampant.

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Kite Pharma Response
4y
Hi, this is Matt Hostetler. Your feedback is important to us and we take allegations like the above extremely seriously. One of the things I am most proud of at Kite is our collaborative and inclusive culture where employees feel like they can speak up. We have a confidential ethics hotline where I hope you'll give us the opportunity to discuss these comments further. Please call 844-820-2719 to get in touch.
1.0
Apr 1, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Free snacks and food at meetings. Gilead has a good 401k match as well.

Cons

Where to begin.... -toxic culture/environment -management has no idea what’s ever going on but they expect employees to wear many caps to get the job done. Get ready to feel like you’re almost working two 9 to 5s. -Company seems to only work on retaining the bad employees. Favoritism is abound in this place. -clinical is horrible. A lot of grand egos who don’t actually know anything about the process, yet title/experience trumps Kite knowledge, apparently. -Poor hiring leads to incompetent people working, usually at the referral of incompetent managers/workers. -the idea that Kite Speed (silly term used to undermine the fact that employees are overworked and underpaid) is the only thing keeping this place going. A madhouse. - Commercial site is even worse. A lot of Baxter/Amgen vibes have mixed together to create something more toxic than either one. Also, most people are idiots. -Retention is the worst. So many people leaving. Sad!

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Glassdoor has 653 Kite Pharma reviews submitted anonymously by Kite Pharma employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Kite Pharma is right for you.