Abbott Labs Reviews in Abbott Park, IL

Pros

- Solid people, competitive pay and benefits

Cons

- Can put in some long hours during the week

Advice to Senior Management

Headed in the right direction, stay the course.

Pros

Realized later that the only good thing was the pay... I am glad I negotiated well at the beginning and then when realized how bad a company it was to work for, I resigned.

Cons

Frequent restructuring; managers treating team members bad; inflexibility in giving time off due to family/leave issues; office politics taking over research...

Advice to Senior Management

The higher management should listen to the employees down in the hierarchy. Many things don't reach the upper management, if it does it reaches in a filtered way, so the upper management does not know what is going on in terms of the problems down there.

Pros

Great career growth opportunities within the organization.

Cons

Job security is to be desired.

Advice to Senior Management

Must be more innovative and consistent

Pros

Decent Pay, Long commute, ok assignments

Cons

Politically charged atmosphere, incompetent managers

Advice to Senior Management

Get real

Pros

Competitive pay and great benefits (3 weeks vacation to start, healthcare, 401k, profit sharing, and pension plan). Abbott is a company that once you start working, you can quickly see yourself being there a long time. Plenty of opportunities to move across divisions and nicely structured career path.

Cons

Abbott has always been a silo-ed company. The ineffective communication between corporate functions and the divisions can cause major road blocks for projects. This may recede over time as there are major initiatives forcing cross-functional and divisional cooperation.

Advice to Senior Management

While the big initiatives are important, don't lose sight of the critical individuals that are doing the tactical work. Recognize your employees by thanking them in front of your peers and manager(s), this is much more powerful than any monetary award!

Pros

Rock solid financially
Diverse business add earnings stability
Many smart scientists in certain niches
Excellent infrastructure in IT and engineering
Both a classic pension and decent 401k

Cons

Poor communication to the masses
Limited upward mobility for most
Pay less and management is proud of it
Micromanagement is tolerated by the top
Careerists dominate, the talented leave after 4-7 years, the average stay 40 years

Advice to Senior Management

Bring in outside blood
Turnover the executive suite

Pros

Benefits package. I have a very good direct manager and team.

Cons

Abbott is notoriously cheap when it comes to compensating employees. We are constantly asked to do more, faster, with less. Everyone on my immediate team does the work of three people. It burns you out, especially when you aren't financially compensated. I don't even make the low end range of my job title as listed here.

Advice to Senior Management

Take a look at the salaries here and reward the grunt workers you always ask for more!

Pros

Many smart and collaborative colleagues.
Competitive package.

Cons

Not as nimble as it needs to be. Big company environment creates "speed bumps" to getting things done.
Company struggling within current market environment limiting opportunities for growth. Has implemented a number of layoffs over the last few years.

Pros

Good pay and benefits. Good time off. Basically a good company to warehouse yourself -- especially if you want the best (in this day and age) chance for long-time job security for 5-15 years (depending). Simply tow the line and buy a house, have 2.3 kids , 2 cars, vacations and be Clark Griswold. Just the thing if a cookie-cutter, Bed, Bath and Beyond, wonder bread, midwestern lifestyle is your aim in life. Nothing wrong with that. Line up at the trough and feed. Rules: Just keep your head down, play nice and collect your checks every two weeks and be happy. Resistance is futile.

Cons

Abbott is still living in the past socially and in technology. While the people are usually nice (to your face), you still know that caucasian people are taken more seriously than so-called minorities - notwithstanding all the "minority advancement programs" designed to make Abbott Labs appear to be a "progressive" equal opportunity employer. For a company with so much cash, it is amazing at how behind the times their IT systems and methodologies are.

Advice to Senior Management

They couldn't care less about your "advice". The "town-hall" feedback system is an entertaining inside joke to upper management that is used to pacify the rabble politically and to sniff out and eventually remove any "grousers". They run a business with a high barrier to entry and as long as the ancient shareholders keep getting their huge dividend checks and the executives can buy huge houses in Lake Forest, they are satisfied.

Pros

The people at Abbott are great. It's definitely a family-friendly workplace and I would recommend it to anyone that is looking to be working parent. Abbott has opportunities for advancement and different types of projects.

Cons

IT is definitely behind the times at Abbott. It was difficult being a student and having to relearn technologies of the past in order to perform well. If you want to work with new, exciting technologies, Abbott is not the place for you.

Advice to Senior Management

Abbott is doing a good job overall. It is difficult to bring new IT solutions to a pharmaceutical company with so many FDA regulations. I think it would be good for Abbott to create a CIO position in order to better align the IT with the business strategy.