Coworkers
People like to cause drama. Be careful what you say and do they will not hesitate to backstab you any moment they can.
Upper-Management
Managers do not care if people do not work. People take exceptional long breaks, on the clock, causing more work for the people who work. The management have favorites some people can get away with these breaks while others are not even allowed to take breaks. I would stay away from upstairs they are only in management position because they has been working there for 20+ years but they has no sense of management. Hardly anyone likes them. They also won't hesitate to let you go at the first sign of trouble. They also knows that people that do not work in his department but does not care because they like them. Oh and if you hate working with chemicals that give you cancer all day don't expect them to let you transfer department because they are too lazy to train people. They also does not care about properly labeling and logging in chemicals even though it is against regulation. I would also steer clear of the downstairs they likes to hire women so they can stare at them all day. The girls downstairs are also very mean they will talk bad about you as soon as you turn your back. You are also forced to work overtime during the busier months. Be careful though the managers will trick you into thinking that overtime is mandatory but it is not. There is also very little cohesion between the managers. They all have their own way of wanting things done. The only reason they are an accredited lab is because during audit time they pull their act together and do it right but after the audit all bets are off and they go back to their normal standard of low quality work.
Vacation
You are forced to take vacation days during their slow months the longer you are there the more days you have to take. They no longer give Christmas Eve off.
Future employment
There is no future growth there. They give you a raise less then the inflation rate. New people start out at 14.50 an hour and the people who have been there for 8 years are at ~16-17 an hour. On average people took 12+ years to get down to the department that gets to work on the instruments. Once you get down on the instruments you become a salary employee and at that point they can work you as much as they want without paying you overtime. There are some lab technicians that make more then the analysts because of overtime.
Benefits
The benefits are good with matching 401k up to 4%. However, if you do not get cancer within 6 months of leaving this job you will not be covered by their insurance. If you do leave make sure to not let them know where you are going because if you do they will pull out the clause that says you cannot work on any instruments or use any brands like Thermo Scientific for 2 years. They also have a 90 day at will employment clause in their contract. They can fire you for whatever reason they want.
All of these cons leads to a really high turnover rate and you will see your coworkers come and go within months of getting hired.
