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Thermo Fisher Scientific

Engaged Employer

Thermo Fisher Scientific reviews

3.5

62% would recommend to a friend

(12,614 total reviews)
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Marc N. Casper

68% approve of CEO

53% positive business outlook

Thermo Fisher Scientific has an employee rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars, based on 12,614 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Thermo Fisher Scientific employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

13K reviews
1.0
Jul 18, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Ok salary and bonus with 80 hours/week workload expectation 15 PTO days include sick days Work from home exists but for certain people only ESPP exists but basically no discount Ok benefits but they will push you to low cost HSA plan because cost is less Average 401K match but you have to wait 3 months Intensity is a scary word. The devil is in the detail

Cons

Intensity is a scary word there Work Life balance is fake, certain people only No fairness, only favoritism. You can do no wrong if management likes you. If you are not in that inner circle, just be ready to take all the blames even it's not your fault. Racism heavily exists. Only one race will be promoted. They might put minority to unimportant spot occasionally just to show diversity, but never something meaningful position. If you are minority, female, colorful race or has foreign accent, you need to be quiet and obey, then you might have a chance. Full of toxic culture. Few people will purposely speaking on phone so loud in open office space, so they can get attention from top. Also you will see few female employees constantly go to male director/VP's office to discuss "works" with door closed. Backstabbing is real. This place doesn't care about your performance. Only what people say about you in the back matters. Be careful if you are smart and hard working, your manager and colleagues will not like it and they will try to take you down if you show too much ego. Finance system is just a disaster. You will be put into the place to create financial report with wrong data all the time. Watch out these people can talk intelligently about the system and data, they are the person with no clue but only really good in BS. But for some reasons, this company loves bs. No job security. Be expected to look for new job every 1-2 years. They don't want you to stay at the same role too long. You need to go through the same interview process every 1-2 years competing with another 5 external candidates. That's their method to push out people they don't like without paying severance. If you are about to accept their offer but have another opportunity in hand, think twice. Make sure you know what environment you will get yourself into.

3.0
Jun 13, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I enjoyed my job, work-life balance, the compensation, facilities, my co-workers, company culture, and the company in general.

Cons

I heard a lot of criticism about my work and performance but little to no praise for it. First example, my manager was out sick for a couple of days. On my initiative, I posted a large note outside her cube to let people know. When my manager came back in, she was flabbergasted that I had done such a thing. Yes, she used the word, flabbergasted. She chewed me out for about 10 minutes. She claims that she told me not to do that before, but I do not remember the conversation. Second example, my manager called my work on an operator manual a failure. Yes, she used the word, failure. She pointed out specifics. I pointed out some things I did correctly in the document, but that did not seem to matter to her. When I asked my manager why I did not receive any compliments from her about my work, she did offer one, but I have not heard another compliment since. I did not feel that I contributed to the company much. For example, my manager read and provided feedback on everything I wrote including some of my email messages. Although her feedback was valuable and improved the documents, I feel that things might have gone faster if she simply did the work herself. She often complained about how much time she spent redlining my work. I did not feel that I was allowed to think for myself or take initiative in solving problems. For example, my manager asked me to resolve a conflicted files problem in our software versioning and revision control system. I asked a co-worker to help me, and we spent some time on the phone to resolve it. He seemed happy to help me, and we solved it. Afterwards, my manager told me not to waste his time and that every work-related problem I have should go through her first. She also called that co-worker to apologize to him for wasting his time, which I did not feel was necessary.

1.0
Mar 28, 2019

In a word; RUN.

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Pay is acceptable for the area, but should be negotiated prior to start date as there will be slow slow SLOWWW wage progress post hiring. Despite operations being LITERALLY THE WORST PLACE I HAVE EVER BEEN EMPLOYED, R&D appears to be a great environment. In other words, as long as you avoid production roles you are probably fine.

Cons

-Metrics are everything. Which would be fine, if they were based in reality. -Constant stress and headaches over unrealistic goals. Moving goal posts. -No opportunity for growth and advancement -Rampant favoritism -Promotions are not typically based on merit -Treated like a slave I was constantly told that "every corporation is like this" and "you should be more grateful, you have it very good here!" by people who have only ever worked in one place. Unless you want to spend your day getting reamed for walking around or taking too long of a break/lunch (OH! Don't worry, they'll time you) I would avoid this place like the plague. Find a normal job somewhere else, where they do real science. Additionally, if you end up in production, some of the chemistry can be quite difficult. Following the batch record may result in failure. However when it comes time for bonus/promotions, you will be reminded that all you do is "follow batch records" and you don't "go above and beyond to make drastic changes to the process". Which of course you WOULD (updating batch records, etc.) if you had TIME. Which you don't. Your personal goals are meaningless here, and management will straight up lie to your face about nebulous advancement opportunities just to get you to stay forever. Alternatively, they might straight up tell you that you do not do enough to move up. I'm guessing anyone less then a total savant is considered utterly useless. Trying to train on processes is like pulling teeth. They are afraid to develop people, because they are worried they will lose them. The ideal employee here is barely smart enough to do the science, is willing to be treated like a blue collar worker, can work 2x faster than a normal human and is willing to lie to support the unrealistic goals. NO JOKE. They actually discussed taping out a yellow square in front of the chemistry benches. You would have to be in this box a minimum of 8 hours a day, and any time spent away from your box (including bathroom breaks) would be unpaid. The philosophy here is "do more with less". That philosophy runs DEEP here. That is how they keep the margins on the products at 90% or higher. Personnel is part of the bottom line, so they are only interested in how to keep you down and keep you in the same role forever. ASK AROUND! Some people have been here for 20-30 YEARS IN THE SAME ROLE. They are not stupid, they are not lazy, they just cannot leave due to having families etc. Thermo KNOWS THIS, and they take advantage of being the only large chemistry employer in the area. I personally know of at LEAST 7 people who have had full on breakdowns due to the stress level here. There is NO WAY that is normal. I could go on, but I think I have made my point clear enough.

Viewing 10 - 12 of 12,614 Reviews

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