calibration technician

account manager

software engineer

field application engineer

field service technician

Tektronix

One of the main things you will hear every time there is an email, is reinvesting in the company. After six years, I have not seen much investment back into the company. We are working with sub-par equipment, have to make due with equipment that we have; regardless if it is the proper equipment.

The management, from the lab managers to the CEO, try to shove the Fortive Business System (FBS) down your throat like it has any meaning in your daily tasks. The corporate lingo is taken so far that managers rely on the absurdity of it instead of making rational decisions to progress the team into the future. We are always trying to play catch up to the customers needs instead of being proactive and making sure the labs have what they need to succeed and say yes to the customer. 

Trying to get a simple accessory for the computer or software that would make the team more productive is almost impossible. Imagine that for one second when you need a $10k+ dollar piece of equipment you need to keep from transferring your work out to other competitors. 

Bonus dollars are nothing to get excited about. It is basically another paycheck regardless of how well the company performs. The numbers they use are pulled out of thin air and are never revealed to how they got them or where they came from. There is not a single report that is handed out to justify their payout.

The training you get will be hands on training. There is no real formal training. One time there was going to be formal training for several employees, and someone in management decided that travel was too expensive to pay for it and put a stop to it. The benefits of that training would have given many labs the opportunities to take on a new line of work that would have brought in more money and might have created more jobs within the company. 

The other issues we have in the company is needless meetings that could be sent via email, managers tasking people to do things the manager should be doing and not wasting productive hours for the employees, writing procedures that are so generic you should just hand someone a piece of paper with a dot on it because it is as descriptive as the procedure, and the yearly reviews are worthless time spent listening to a manager that has not been engaged with their employees all year try to get engaged for 10 minutes and has no idea what exactly you did the previous year except for a few numbers he pulls for some basic nonsense that you have no control over - like regional turn around time. Seriously! Then once that is complete, you get to hear about the whopping 2% raise your going to get that doesn't even cover inflation for the previous year. 

The company is greedy, does not care about the employees, and will give you lip service to make you think you are appreciated. All nonsense they pay a consulting firm millions of dollars a year to spew like it has some value.

.My day at work started with verifying every employee was in position and ready to start. I was head of the team, as trainer I made sure every man new his responsibility. I taught them to envision the need and gave them the authority to execute it properly and concisely our team worked like clockwork. We beat the quotas on constant basis. People are inherently lazy without hope of a future. I gave them employment and work, I gave them hope and a future with the company. I am a problem solver and as a MTM specialist to remove bottlenecks was the hardest part of the job. It took management support and we had it.to improve productivity, while maintaining quality of workmanship. In solving problems attitudes changed because I showed a caring attitude. People need to know their supported and the endemic problems that face them every day will be solved.
For me the hardest part of the job was instilling faith and hope in humanity. This was accomplished by keeping my word by following through with real solutions, showing I truly cared and had their best interest at heart. It was not only providing leadership but instilling faith in me and giving them hope by solving the problems. 
The part of the job that I enjoyed the most was how our team worked together; it was like magic, a finely tuned clock. I truly owe it all to the management support I received. No man is an island and truly no man pulls himself up by his own bootlaces. We need one another, good men and woman who have a keen sense of what needs to be done. It gives me great pleasure knowing I have grown the profit margin. Gained market share and produced a better workforce equipped with all the tools at their disposal to become the best that they can be. I was shocked to find after reading one year of Harvard Business Report that scientifically my approach works. It builds the best companies. to work for. How would you like your company on that list? In tough times it's so important not to hire but rather assess the capabilities of each employee and within reason expect all to pitch in a take on more responsibility A publicly traded company has to return a profit to stock holders. So removing the things that slow people down and create bottlenecks that can bring any area of an operation to its knees. Solving these endemic issues and others will reduce stress, give people a reason to show up to work; rather than calling in sick. It will build a sense of belonging and instill hope and build faith. .It will lead any company to success with ever increasing market share. Improve the quality and quantity of output.    .

Tektronix was a wonderful place to work. Everyone was very supportive: management, lead people, and fellow employees. The job I did was very fun and interesting, too.  They are very respectful to their employees there.  We were allowed to be on the honor system and did not have to clock in with a time card. They were also very concerned with employee safety and required special and on-going safety training.
   The hardest part of my job, I think, was having to be there at 6:00 am to start in the morning, but I lived very close, so it was a quick drive, and it was nice to get off early because of starting early. Another challenge was to keep my mind focused and not allow it to wander off during the many hours of repetitive work.
   The most enjoyable part of my job was getting into the rhythm of putting the ceramic tiles onto the kiln conveyor belt and taking them off at the other end when they had gone through the firing cycle. I enjoy repetitive work like that and having a goal of completing the job on time and doing a high quality job.
    We had nice breaks, too  - two fifteen minute breaks and a half hour lunch.  Someone from my group would take over the kiln work while I was on my break.
     A typical day would be that after arriving in the morning, I would get into my clean-room suit and give the the kilns an overall wipe-down and check all the gauges for the proper readings.  The purpose of the kilns was to fire the tiles between printings, so the printers were located right next to the kilns, and after each kiln firing, the parts would go back onto the shelf for the next stage of printing. I would take the first holder of tiles and lay each tile down in rows on the kiln belt.  It would take an hour for the firing to be completed and time for them to come out the other end.  We had timers to help remind us that it was time, because if someone wasn't there to take them off the belt, they would land on the floor, and they are very delicate and breakable!  Sometimes I would run three kilns at once so would be running to get the tiles put on in time and running around the other end to take them off in time!  Everyone was very supportive, and if the load got too heavy, I would just call for help, and one of the printers or lead person would come and help me catch up.
   Also, when the firing schedule was slow, I would do some inspection of incoming blank tiles and some packaging of them at the end.
   The main thing I learned doing this job was to focus and pay attention - not to let my mind wander which can happen when doing a repetitive job.

Prior to the acquisition of Tek by Danaher (and its subsequent folding into a company called Fortive), it had a very unique work culture - innovation was built into the company DNA and not just given lipservice, management was invested not only in creating great products but creating great talent, and the company stood by their employees through both the fat and lean days.  

Since the Danaher/Fortive acquisitions, the unique Tek corporate culture has been chopped up and spit out into a very different thing indeed; one where less is supposedly more (but almost always less).  Irrational hiring freezes in the face of record profits, lack of funding for essential tools and infrastructure, and management who fundamentally lack the old-school Tek DNA - managers invested in employees have been replaced with managers making unreasonable schedule pull-ins while providing ever fewer resources to accomplish them. It's very easy for long-term employees to be stuck into a dead end role or to be known as 'the XYZ guy', which makes moving on more difficult if XYZ happens to be a older or less-desirable skill.

One area where Tek still holds onto its old-school ways is the very strong emphasis on work-life balance.  You'll find very few people staying late into the evenings and coming in on weekends except in limited circumstances, and managers tend to be very flexible in terms of accommodating changes in schedule.  Benefits are competitive and the company still offers a results share plan, though salaries are supposedly lower than average among its peers.

For someone coming into the company from other companies, none of these things may be particularly unique, but for people who've been around, modern Tek is a very different thing than vintage Tek, and not for the better.

I put out fires and try to pacify angry customers all day long. Not enough cal techs for the work that is scheduled. Unrealistic turn around times set be sales who have no technical or calibration experience which is frustrating to not only the customers but the employees that cannot make these deadlines. 
Tektronix can't get quality cal techs now that the word is out and not untrue about the companies instability.
Management puts the spin that this is normal. 
NO IT'S NOT.
And now with the 2 week unpaid furlough, we are working at half the manpower, customers are angry about their turn times. And this will go on until the end of June.
Upper management including TN have been nothing short of insulting to the employees about this furlough. It could be easily compared to a physically abusive spouse trying to make your beatings better by saying "at least I'm not hitting you in the face".
This is a sinking ship. It's all about the shareholders, not the customers, not the employees.
Not enough equipment to handle the work flow, the equipment we do have is ancient and the COE stands aren't anywhere near capable of what the techs who put them together say they are.
This company has been getting progressively worse as they bring in upper management that comes from sales (no clue on calibration) or running a sweat shop in China.
If you're a cal tech looking for a change, don't get sucked into the better than average benefits. Don't think you can make an impact. Don't think "I'll just do my eight and go home". Don't think "it won't happen to me" (getting laid off or furloughed).
The manufacturing side of Tektronix is an albatross around the rest of the companies neck. Dragging down the ship along with upper management.
I know it fuels the egos of many being an OEM service provider, but it's killing us.

If you work in Sales or Marketing or if you are a Director, VP or your title is C-something (CEO, CIO, CFO) Tektronix is a good place to start, get some time on your resume and get some money before moving on to a better job with good culture. If you work with customers (and you are NOT getting commission) or you have an engineering degree (and you THINK you might want to work for an innovative company) this is not the place for you. You will be chewed up, used up and discarded in favor of a profit margin. Your manager's manager will micro manage you or he will ignore that you exist. You will read the job description and think 'wow, paid schooling? travel? look at these benefits!' Let me clear some things up. You don't get paid schooling unless it's an engineering course that your boss approves of. It says you may travel - you won't (unless you are in the group at the top). Benefits? Give it a year. Benefits are evaporating faster than the Glaciers in Montana. There are good people here, who cry in their cars on the way into the office. The Culture of the Silicone Forrest is gone. 

I was promoted to supervisor. My employees make more money than I do. I was promised a raise in April along with being put on the "OPs Bonus". 2 months after my promotion they changed their mind about the OPs bonus and in April I found out they changed thier mind about the raise too. I have an employee that show up at whatever time suits him and whatever days suit him. When I tried a peformance plan, write up, or termination they were all denied. This employee consistantly shows up 2 to 3 hours late. Tektronix will not let me do anything about it because the attrition rate will go up if he leaves. He has had 2 raises and a promotion this year and granted flexible work hours, meanwhile I can't promote a good technician because the budget is not there. Tektronix is all about the numbers, share holders, and upper management bonuses and craps on it's employees that do a good job. You need to be a jerk that shows up late, turns equipment with no reguard for standards, defies your management, and threatens to leave. If you have the criteria listed you will go far at tektronix.

Once a stellar company concerned about quality and customer base now focused only on profit. The training department has been completely disbanded and training on new products is not adequate, often left to the individual to train themselves. New technology training is completely gone. Management does not care about the individual worker any longer and is under great pressure to show profit in the short term. Long term does not apply. Micro management is the new norm. Developing a customer base is foreign to the company today where in the past it was taught to sow the seeds today and gather the fruit tomorrow. Communication between immediate management and employee is one sided bordering on bullying. Decisions are made and policies are changed at HQ without input from the field and then the field is not notified of the changes. Corporate likes to pat themselves on the back with little recognition to workers.

Tektronix is at the forefront of innovation, delivering world-class products and services that empower its customers all over the globe to push the bounds of technology.

Tektronix has a collaborative culture where people enjoy what they do and the people they work with. Management fosters a climate of  respect for one another and honoring differences. When you work here, you develop friendships that are lasting and often go beyond employment. 

Tektronix offers a Total Rewards Program to encompass the things associates value from an employment relationship — enrichment, benefits, personal growth and a unique work experience. 

Management was known to make rounds and often ask their employees "how can we make this a better place to work". They were about fostering an environment of "working smarter, not longer". I really miss working here!

Let me start out by saying Tektronix is not a bad company to work for, but it is not one I would recommend.

On the plus side:  comparable salary, educational opportunities, good work/life balance, friendly environment

On the con side:  Tektronix is a slower pace technology company that is losing market share on their product lines.  Not as innovative as they use to be and prone to layoffs every 2 to 3 years.

Upward mobility is limited as company seems to be shrinking instead of growing which is main reason for not recommending.

If looking for a job to pay the bills, work normal hours and not necessarily be challenged intellectually at work this is a good place to work.  Caveat is not saying job is easy.  Most product lines are sustaining and streamlining, so innovation is limited and work becomes routine after initial learning curve.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Calibration technician 41 salaries reported	$34.00 per hour
Account manager 26 salaries reported	$201,523 per year
Software engineer 2 salaries reported	$116,350 per year
Field application engineer 17 salaries reported	$139,135 per year
Field service technician 10 salaries reported	$67,270 per year

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