Lots of potential, slow to change - Anonymous employee AbbVie Employee Review

3.0
Jun 8, 2015
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

They are an exciting company and industry that is focused on 2 major things - Patients and Growth. They do truly care for the patient (as much as any pharma company can) and are willing to make tough decisions to grow the business.

Cons

They are a spin-off of Abbott Labs, a great company but also a very traditional, conservative one. AbbVie is in a fast-paced, progressive industry but as much as they say they are "new"...they aren't. The shadow of Abbott still looms large and it is a constant battle to get them to move quickly and change their ways. Especially upper management who say they want to empower teams but can't help but micromanage.

Explore other reviews about AbbVie

5.0
Jun 18, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

love the culture at AbbVie and they have great benefit packages.

Cons

Huge Territories and long hours

1.0
Jul 3, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Big Pharma Name Recognition: Having Allergan/AbbVie on your resume provides industry visibility.

Cons

Extreme Governance & Bureaucracy: Allergan is paralyzed by red tape. There are far too many governance layers just to get basic regulatory strategies vetted out. Flawed Compliance Infrastructure: Product approvals are heavily dependent on documentation. However, current records are completely inadequate. Management fundamentally fails to understand how these systems are interlinked. Unqualified & Absentee Leadership: The leader with department oversight completely lacks the expected knowledge and experience for this level, making her a massive liability. She is rarely in the office but knows exactly how to work the system. She aggressively pushes for unnecessary, in-person regulatory meetings solely to accumulate personal travel points rather than to mitigate actual business risks. Disastrous Transition Management: The leadership transition wreaked total havoc across the department. Negligent HR Department: HR shows zero interest in investigating why good talent is leaving the company. Alarming Job Security Signs: It is a massive red flag when a leader encourages employees to apply for roles entirely unrelated to their expertise, or receiving automated AI notifications about job openings outside your department.

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