Abbott Labs Reviews in North Chicago, IL

Pros

Some place to experience a very large and dysfunctional corporation. The company has remained profitable, but, has done so as it continues to 'off-shore' good paying jobs at all levels of the corporation. The CEO has routinely placed amoung the highest paid of his peers in Big Pharma. If, you are a young, female college graduate, then the company is actively filling its quota system with your gender. The company financially is managed very well. Just don't let employees stand in the way of meeting the next quarter's dividends.

Cons

The corporate culture is one of total myopathy. The company breeds management to believe they are the brightest, most stellar managers in their industry. They are not.The management seeks no one's opinion but their own.The corporation does not have an effective vision and its long term strategy is best summed up by sending jobs off shore ASAP.

Advice to Senior Management

Quit.

Pros

Old school benefits including pension plan and profit shareing. You don't see this much anymore. The people are generally great. I only recently have encountered bad relationships at work, I've been here for 4 years. Salaries areaverage for what you do, but competitive. The positive is that its a comfortable place to work and you get some time to spend with family as well, at least with my sales position.

Cons

Very large company. Lots of policies and beurocracy in place to deal with. Not as much freedom as smaller companies to work how you want to work. This industry and sector is under a lot of pressure right now from FDA and us government in general. Democrats in office, wether thats good for the country or not, will make it more difficult for Pharma to profit, this may make it a little more difficult to work for in the future.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to your employees. Stop adding sales peopleto try to compensate for erroding profits, its a short term strategy and will only lead to more painful layoffs in the future.

Pros

Very flexible with individual employee needs. Many times I have witnessed employees faced with challenges that might have been problematic in most companies. Abbott works with employees willing to help themselves to find the right niche, have adequate time to get through tough situations, that sort of thing.
Abbott takes an active interest in providing a positive atmosphere with an emphasis on integrity, working conditions, and opportunity for advancement. In the race between the tortoise and the hare, Abbott is the tortoise. A little slower, a little more conservative, but steady, determined, and in the end it succeeds. Most people I know who have left say the atmosphere was better at Abbott than at their new company.

Cons

The pay is not at all comparable to that available at similar companies. On the upside, it is a very stable company. Northern Illinois is one of the most tedious places in the U.S. Think you might commute from Chicago! Ha! You're looking at commute times of at least 2 hours one way at rush hour. The alternative is to live in any number of dull suburbs that offer little or nothing other than developments. There is virtually no culture within commuting distance. So you have a dilemma - a horrific commute or complete boredom. Also, if you are an outdoors person who likes anything other than boating and fishing you will find yourself with little to interest you.

Advice to Senior Management

Try to get salaries a little more in line with those of competitors so we are not training as many workers who will eventually leave for competitors with skills they developed on Abbott's budget.

Pros

Because it is a healthcare company, really feel that your work helps others. Has a diverse business model which leads to relatively decent stability. Opportunities to move between businesses and locations, including international.

Cons

High pressure, because you are working on products that affect people's lives and because our products are highly regulated.

Advice to Senior Management

Increase management by walking around. Management sometimes seems out of touch.

Pros

A good place to work for benefits

Cons

It is a very political organization

Advice to Senior Management

Treat non-exempts like people

Pros

Location and benefit selection for full time employees

Cons

Senior management too concerned about their own careers and the negative retribution from the CEO

Advice to Senior Management

Reel in senior management pay ... it is way out of line!