Pros
Free snacks- but they hardly rotate them so you’ll get sick of the selection quite fast. I’ve never had trouble having PTO approved (which is “unlimited” but it’s actually ~20 days and ~7 sick days) I’ve met some of the nicest and genuinely good people working in the lab. Building is in downtown and on the river walk.
Cons
Lab workers are underpaid and overworked. Expect to be on a skeleton crew and constantly pressured to do more. I’ve seen many people, myself included, reduced to tears from the workload, pressure, and poor treatment. Management is really bad. Team leads are constantly doing the supervisors jobs and some of the supervisors literally have no clue what’s going on. Lab workers are doing not only the clinical workflow but also expected to also do the wet lab work for the R&D team. The machines are constantly breaking and some of the machines are so outdated it’s actually pathetic- nearly every single day the workflow of at least one team is extremely delayed due to the availability/functionality of the machines. You’ll be expected to take on extra work for no additional pay with absolutely no end in sight. Expect to have your team, shift, responsibilities, and pay changed on a whim. My base pay was reduced by over 6% during a random shift differential change that was implemented and there was nobody- NOBODY- who could tell me what my new pay would be before I received the paycheck that the change applied to. After a year in, I was moved to a new team without even a conversation or heads up. I was hired as an Extraction Technologist (which they replaced with “Molecular Technologist I” to avoid giving techs a raise after they reach a year of clinical lab experience and become eligible to perform high complexity testing) and moved to a role performing high complexity testing for absolutely no extra pay. “This is a lateral transition” is what I was told, despite the facts. The annual raise is no bigger than 3%. There’s no 401k matching. People are leaving left and right and finding jobs paying 30%-50% more than what they pay at Tempus. The patients are NOT the priority here. That is extremely obvious working in the lab. There’s almost no career advancement. There have been cockroaches literally INSIDE the lab and everyone acts way too chill about it. Also WAY too chill about lab safety. Like, something could be extremely toxic and have all sorts of warning symbols on it and it’ll just sit leaking on a table for months unless somebody flags it. That’s a real example BTW. I have so many things to say about working here but seriously if you’re applying for a lab position then read the negative reviews for a true idea of what it’s like. Only take this job if you ABSOLUTELY must and if you only expect it to be temporary- you’ll probably not want to stay for more than 2 years. The lab workers are “disposable” to the company.
