Growing Company, Poorly Integrated, Dysfunctional, Slow at Execution
Pros
- Fantastic 401K match and the vesting period is short compared with competitors - Great resources (ability to get lab supplies at or near cost) - Company hosts many exciting events and workshops throughout the year and are great opportunities to gain skills or volunteer - Company is very lean, and is heavily focused on data metrics and KPIs, I really appreciated the focus on continuous improvement - The education scholarship is generous, albeit more restrictive compared with other employers - Healthcare offerings are variable depending on the group and region, some pre-merger legacy plans that Thermo has retained are truly unmatched - Company has a relatively young, vibrant workforce and is growing - On-site amenities, including gym and cafeteria (where available) are cheap and accessible - WFH flexibility is great if you get the right manager and department
Cons
- PTO policy, though on the surface fairly generous at 3 weeks starting, is inflexible and difficult to navigate in my experience compared with competitors (example: maternity leave) - The company is an agglomeration of a number of smaller companies that were the product of Thermo's buying binge over the past couple of years. There remains quite a bit of overlap and silos that result in unnecessary duplication of functions and resources, territory disputes, office politics, and communication challenges. Except for a very few functions, expect to be frustrated by this on a regular basis. - Advancement opportunities are lacking and raises are paltry compared with competitors. The company does emphasize "lateral moves" into other roles, which I appreciatively took advantage of during my career at Thermo Fisher. However, in my own experience many times this resulted in others coming in who were completely unfamiliar with a product line that took on a management or oversight role where they have no clear idea what the product really is, how it is used, or how it is manufactured. It is also exhausting to have to re-introduce yourself to your new manager and to justify your existence and importance to the team if you're doing it 3-4 times a year. - The websites are truly an absolute dumpster fire and the company has no easy solutions to address it. It is difficult to get a customer interested in a product when they themselves cannot find it on the website. - Constant instability, turnover, layoffs that weren’t fully thought through, and unrealistic expectations. As a result, there was frequently a lot of friction and resulting drama between on-site employees or underhanded tactics from mid-level managers that subsequently amplified the drama and hampered productivity (i.e. artificially inflating numbers, stealing resources and materials from other groups in the middle of the night to "hold down the budget"). - The open-plan office space and dearth of conference and huddle rooms at many larger sites make it logistically difficult to schedule and hold meetings - Many of the Senior Directors and VP's seem to have an almost "Cult of Personality" problem. While Thermo Fisher has a top-notch Internal Communications and PR Shop, the focus on AV, bright lights, and showmanship versus more open, honest dialogue and communication results in it being an uninformative pablum. Why does there need to be a DJ and produced light show at a site's quarterly Town Hall discussing company performance? Isn't that a bit excessive? Why does the Leadership and Marketing Teams need to frequently come in and disrupt the lab operation to "play act" science for the camera? If you have a question or concern regarding a decision being rolled out from the top, do not expect a speedy or satisfying answer, or even a forum to gain further clarity - I did experience the ultimate insult of finding out I was about to be laid off but before that was going to happen, I was asked to train my replacement on another continent.
