The workload is high and can be very high - 100+ hour weeks in some departments - due to intentional understaffing and high turnover . In my group there were many inexperienced people doing work beyond their capabilities because of the inability to recruit and retain experienced employees, leading to many quality issues, rework, and lost business.
Several positions in my department were eliminated or significantly redefined in a short period of time leading to massive confusion about responsibilities and frustration as people were now expected to do jobs different from what they thought they had been hired to do.
There is a very strong culture of blame and not taking accountability at all levels, by far the worst I've experienced in 9 years in the CRO industry. There is constant finger pointing and functional groups do not work as a team; this lack of teamwork was even noticed by sponsor on my study.
All of this leads to a highly stressful environment. I know several professional people to have just walked out of PAREXEL, and more that gave notice but did not have another job lined up. There is nothing - pay, benefits, opportunities - that make working at PAREXEL worth it..
