Abbott Labs Reviews in Chicago, IL Area

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

This is a family friendly company.

Cons

Promotions are few and far between.

Advice to Senior Management

Provide leadership.

Pros

It is difficult to be terminated at Abbott

Cons

Poor Leadership
A general disrespect for contributors
HR very very poorly ran
No sharing of best practices between divisions

Advice to Senior Management

Make leadership development your major focus and that will have an impact at every level of your company!

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

Great benefits and very happy employees. Abbott treats its employees very well and there is fairly frequent communications throughout the company keeping people aware of business issues.

Cons

Very specific nature of work and there is a risk of being siloed within a department. Not much exposure beyond one function.

Advice to Senior Management

Improve transparency across the entire business and increase communication from senior management. Focus on culture and improving the way employees interact across divisions.

Pros

Decent Pay, Long commute, ok assignments

Cons

Politically charged atmosphere, incompetent managers

Advice to Senior Management

Get real

Pros

great work life balance. Depending on your team work environment can be very political but if you are lucky and have a great manager then it is awesome place.

Cons

too much politics .
benefits are shrinking.

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