LOR for PhD admissions

[NoTimeForCaution]

I am a Masters graduate in Engineering (electrical) and I've been working at a hardware company since my graduation about 1.5 years ago. I'm planning to apply for PhD (US & international). I did not do a thesis for my masters - my degree was coursework based. 

My question is- can I submit LORs for PhD programs in engineering from some of my supervisors/managers/mentors at work? I've interned at work at a couple of companies in highly technical roles. And since I haven't done thesis in my masters, I have better chances of obtaining strong LORs from work than school. 

I have this question because, from what I know, PhD program is largely academic/research oriented and I'm worried if the LORs I submit through work will even be valued at all. BTW, my supervisors/mentors are PhD holders as well. Thanks! 

[little_lady]

Hi, I have the same issue, or even in more difficult situation, so I would like to keep informed of anyone responding to this topic .

My background is purely business (Bachelor: Accounting & MBA) while I'm going to apply for learning science and design technology PhD. I have very little experience in education as I just started my teaching after my MBA. I have no research paper or thesis. Indeed, I never thought I would pursue career in research. The problem is that my employers and my former professors have nothing to comment about my "research ability" or related experience in the field. 

My plan changed after my MBA when I started feeling "empowered" that to pursue my passion in education, and I also realized I'm interested in researching. I could work on many literature reviews of students I mentored, reading research papers and reports and still interested in knowing more, especially about the topics I'm going to apply. It's strange, but I will give it many tries.