Pros
Benefits are no too bad. The company does have a pension plan which is unusual these days. Rarely has layoffs, until recently. There are trade offs for, see below Work is cake. You make the trade for pay and advancement in this category. I forgot what real stress is like...everyday is the same.
Cons
This company is extremely fractured...it is hard to explain unless you work there. Each location is like a separate company. The biggest to note is that there are two divison there is the Sigma (old school research, selling to universities and the like) and SAFC that is the custom business that sells to big Pharma; think APIs and chemicals/media. These business models clash constantly. You have one group that want to put something in the big red book (catalog) and the other side focuses on big customer and ignores the little guy. I am on the SAFC side....This where most of the money will be made going forward. Customization is the wave of the future...let VWR support the universities. Realities: Raises are very small for most people, there are exceptions. There are no bonuses for the rank and file. Managers will get bonuses and stock options. Is it is what is. Company is struggling to integrate acquisitions (JRH/Bioreliance...poor Research Organics you are next.) I can not speak to how other companies handle this process, but at times it is just agony. Technology is a daily painful mountain climb. From Lotus Notes (Yes they still use this system from years past). Try making the change from MS Outlook to Lotus notes...you will not believe that someone could sell it to you with a straight face and when you turn it on, you will be looking for Marty McFly, because you will think you went back in time. To enterprise systems that do not talk between sites and between continents. The answer to everything is the spreadsheet. Because, I can not see what you can see...you send me spreadsheet so we can be on the same page. Their IT systems are just so antiquated it is difficult to describe and from most people it is a daily struggle. I am still using an IBM box with Office 2003 and XP. Document management is usually hard copies, the electronic document that are full speed ahead on seems like something that would have replaced a card catalog from your library ten years again (Anyone heard of SharePoint?) Cost savings plans hurt the future. Companies should always made cost cuttings decisions...that is just good business sense. But, when you plan for the future and cut too deep and always look for the least expensive route; you get what you pay for. This is a reality you must accept when working at this company....it not your manager's fault and it is not his boss either, it is ingrained in the culture.
