4.0
Nov 3, 2016
Former employee, more than 10 years
Johns Creek, GA
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook
Pros
The benefits are great. Being owned by a large pharma company can be a real plus from that perspective. I worked with some great people. Pre-Alcon, managers had a lot of independence. There was freedom and support to drive to results.
Cons
Pharma companies breed bureaucracy, and Novartis is no exception. Pushing Ciba into Alcon did not go well. Even though Ciba Vision had a lot more insight into how Novartis worked, Alcon didn't care. Work life balance was not the best. Very quarterly results driven. Have a bad quarter (or worse, a bad year), and layoffs were virtually automatic, no matter workload or contribution.