Abbott Labs Reviews in Chicago, IL Area

Pros

Stable, good benefits, average to decent career growth.

Cons

too bureauacratic - too fit in - management too homogeneous - if you are not like us, you are not that great, or you are great for just this single thing rather than as a person with potential in multiple areas

Advice to Senior Management

open up

Pros

Abbott is a stable company that provides opportunities for those that seek it. The management team is strong, knowledgeable and can be great mentors to the employees. In addition, there are a lot of networking opportunities through organizations (Women, minorities, Toastmasters, etc.)

Cons

Since Abbott is a large company, it may be difficult for those new to the company to adjust to the culture and learn the relationships to make.

Advice to Senior Management

Provide more communication on the status & direction of the department, division and company.

Pros

Benefits and recognition of company name on resume.
Generous vacation time.
Abbott has the potential to provide an interesting career filled with a variety of positions and develop a wide range of skill sets making it possible to experience a fullfilling career

Cons

Employees are not sufficiently valued and there is very limited opportunities for professional growth.
Too much office politics and unprofessional conduct from employees is tolerated by management.
Low work morale due to constant layoff announcements by management.

Advice to Senior Management

Provide better career opportunities for employees to expand skills.

Pros

Opportunities to change course in your career. A large, diverse company that is willing to let employees move into different positions. Benefits are generous. Recent efforts to boost work-life balance are great.

Cons

On the science side, many of the managers are great scientists given promotions solely boost their salaries into acceptable ranges. This means many of these people lack management skills.
The HR department is sub-standard. Difficult to deal with HR in manager-employee disputes or internal job search. They tell you don't meet job qualifications and then 3 months later you find out someone even less qualified was given the job.

Advice to Senior Management

If senior scientists need better pay then give it to them. Promoting them to management positons to achieve a proper salary range is counter productive.

Pros

Great people make Abbott a great company to work for. Benefits package is very competitive. There are some opportunities to move in internally. Company also has a leadership program that seems to attract very bright individuals. There are people that have been over 20 years with the company and have tremendous institutional memory, and they are willing to help newbies. If you are working in project management, there are some limited opportunities to move between Abbott Park and smaller divisions. Good work / life balance.

Cons

Performance appraisal process does not account for much. Human Resources not the best department - or maybe I have not seen many HR departments before. Some politics are to be expected.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep doing what you are doing - share price shows that you have some magic ingredient. On the other hand, where is all the R&D going? Any blockbuster products in the pipeline for Abbott?

Pros

Balance between work life and family life.

Cons

Career opportunities for males and lack of direction from Senior leadership.

Advice to Senior Management

I believe Miles is doing a good job leading Abbott down a path of growth and stability I would hope that would filter down to some of his directors and senior level managers.

Pros

At Abbott, there are lots of opportunities and it easy to move between areas if you are willing to network.
The benefits are good (healthcare, 401k, on-site fitness center, Clara Abbott organization offers classes such as financial management).
It is easy to achieve a good work-life balance.

Cons

Abbott loses many good people because it does not provide opportunities and salary for those that deserve it.
The company is slow to change.
There are significant culture and resource differences depending on the group you work for.

Advice to Senior Management

You should invest more in your people, especially those that want to make a difference and have the qualifications (education, drive, etc) to do so.

Pros

It is a great and stable company. People are great for the most part, but there ar a few bad apples like any family or company. It has ample opportunities and offers anything and everythi9ng to its employees.

Cons

It is a large corporation and there is a fair amount of red tape for a quick career advancement. You need to be in the right place at the right time.

Advice to Senior Management

Not all divisions are created equal as far as work environment. I would really like more effort to make it seem like you work for one company and not have the feeling of "division" between divisions.

Pros

Abbott pays well and generally has good benefits. Abbott has the muscle to hire from the upper percentiles of the applicant pool. People are proud to work at Abbott and it is a leader in Lake county. Abbott has deep pockets and can affrod the best in technology.

Cons

For IT professionals the availability of training varies depending on the budget climat in your specific area. Abbott tends to place resources in "in favor" areas and neglects others. Sometimes the Lake County atmosphere can overwhelm the advantages of being near a world class city (Chicago). People can be a little too self satisfied with "Mother Abbott". Abbott IT can tend towards the one of each in a category mish-mash.

Advice to Senior Management

Please consider the impact on individual contributors of your strategic decisions.

Pros

Abbott has a strong philosophy of work-life balance that shows in both policy and practice. There is also a strong culture of promotion from within, and with such a large and diverse company, there are always new career paths to pursue.

Cons

Abbott has a somewhat "plodding" mentality where change does not come quickly or easily. The high rate of internal promotion tends to limit the amount of new ideas introduced from people with experience in other companies or industries.

Advice to Senior Management

The focus on the our pipeline is clear and evident. It is great to see a management team so keen to invest in projects that won't show returns for at least 10 years, well beyond the scope of next year's bonuses!