Some good people but full of bureaucracy and getting worse - Anonymous employee Novartis Employee Review

2.0
Jun 3, 2023
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Money can be very good in the right position, very good benefits and parental leave, flexible with the right manager.

Cons

Too much red tape and bureaucracy and becoming worse. Continual restructuring because there is constant failure across the board. Also too many people who are paid huge money but bring little value to the company apart from talking inspirational rubbish in town halls. Anyone who buys into the whole "saving lives" purpose facade has been blinded by leaders who talk a good talk. Make no mistake, Novartis like any other big organization is all about the financials. It is far from struggling, has more money than it knows what to do with but is clearing out some great talent for the sake of investors. The current restructure is still ongoing and due to go till the end of 2024. Things have never been so chaotic and uncertain. Some of the most worthless people are being retained, getting new positions and more pay while genuine talent bears the brunt of leadership incompetence & layoffs. The reality is you are little more than a line on an spreadsheet that makes financial sense until it doesn't and you'll be gone. They backtracked on the work from home, choice with responsibility initiative and it's gone to 3 days a week in the office. If you are going to work here, do just enough to get by, get paid, get your bonus, keep your cards close to your chest, be careful about who you trust and be vigilant about who might want to use you for gain. You will not be remembered for any extra hours nor will you be rewarded with promotion. It's not what you know but who you know here. The higher up you go the more you get paid and the less you do apart from post inspirational vomit on LinkedIn. Plenty of Jordan Belforts everywhere. If you have a talent for talking the talk and putting on a good front but secretly have no idea what you're doing, this is the place for you.

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Pros

people are friendly and easy to work with

Cons

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2.0
May 25, 2026
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Pros

Pays pretty well in comparison to similar jobs in the market

Cons

Unstable schedule where you are often asked to come in overnight (1-2 am) regardless of if you have worked the previous day or are off. Basically feels like you're permanently on-call to conduct environmental monitoring. Training is slow. The Micro dept in general is currently understaffed. The job also involves lab work once you are done with your daily environmental monitoring tasks. The work never ceases and the Technicians as a whole has several responsibilities. Promotions seem to come very slowly here.

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