Pros
You are on this website either because you are applying for a position at Carestream or you are an employee wondering if your experiences are the same as others. It’s always good to know what you are walking into. In this case, the news is not positive. As for others experiences, the numerous negative reviews on this site probably answer that question. Glassdoor asks for some pros to working at Carestream. Unfortunately, there aren’t too many Compensation and Benefits: Competitive for the Rochester area; for the industry and other areas outside Western New York, not so much. Here is the catch with Carestream Rochester, once you are in, you are stuck. Xerox isn’t hiring, B&L moved to New Jersey, Kodak is still losing hundreds of millions of dollars annually, and Alaris is figuring out who it is and what it needs. Smaller companies won’t come anywhere near close in terms of compensation. Your choices become stay, accept less pay elsewhere in the area, or relocate. Not great options. Health, vision and 401k are all competitive, however costs go up and benefit coverage goes down each year. Products: The products are decent but losing their edge. No CTO in four years has to be a contributor. Comes up during every Quarterly Business Forum. Buildings: The Verona Street building is decent. Remodeled, although not in the best area of town. Cafeteria is nice and the food is decent. Building 214 is a disaster. Mismatched furniture and cubicles from the 80s and 90s. Hot in the summer. Cold in the winter. Conference rooms out of the stone age. People: Some of the people here are the best you will ever meet. Unfortunately, many of those people are actively looking for other opportunities. That’s it. Really.
Cons
Now for the cons. Far more numerous: Culture: The culture here is the biggest problem with the organization. The culture is the major reason that people in the Rochester area don’t want to work at Carestream. All you have to do is look at the Glassdoor ratings. Abysmal. 66% would not recommend to a friend. 74% disapprove of the CEO. Look at the previous reviews. Most filled with vitriol. Someone wrote that it was the “worst work experience ever.” Ouch. Forced ranking comes up in every discussion. The forced ranking system has created a culture where blaming others has become the norm. If you do well, you immediately have a target on your back. As a result, teamwork suffers. Nobody trusts anybody. There have been a number of people that tried to make real changes over the years to the system. Instead what was rolled out was a repackaging of the same old, same old. Meet the new RPA, same as the old RPA. Most of those who spoke up for meaningful change have left. Sad, but true. Here is an observation: you will not see smiling faces here. As someone mentioned previously, everyone here is always mad at someone or something. New ideas are squashed and people are trying to stay out of the bottom 10%. People are afraid to make a mistake. If they do, they are gone. If they complain, they are gone. If they question, well, you get the idea. Oh, it may not be immediate, but when it is time to force rank, there you are in the bottom 10%. No raise, no bonus. Then you leave or are forced out. Want work-life balance? Not in the job description. Taking vacation? Sorry but that can't be accommodated. You are welcome to take it, but you will be working most of the time. What’s interesting about people who leave Carestream is that when you talk to them, they seem so happy. They are doing well and they look great. They are making a difference in their new job, their church, their community. Their personal lives are better. They enjoy their job and the company they work for. It is something that you see over and over. You can find many of them on Linked-In. Name recognition: If you ask people about Carestream, you will get one of two responses: Who are they? Or, “Do you work THERE? Neither one is good. Financial: Carestream has been marching in place for 7 years now. Revenue still at or close to 2007 levels. Some bottom line growth, but this is primarily through cost cutting. Onex just released their financials and Carestream has 2.1 billion in debt on the books. Sale went nowhere. This is not a growth company. Not now. Could be with the right focus and leadership. Leadership: Leadership through fear, intimidation and yelling is the norm. You can hear it behind closed doors. You will experience it in most meetings. Complain to HR? Good luck with that. The CHRO is one of the worst offenders. Don’t get me wrong, there are some solid leaders at Carestream, but the organization only pays lip service to the idea of treating people with respect. HR: Let’s say that you were hiring a CHRO for a global company. What would you want? International experience. Worked for multiple companies. Strong understanding of HR. Lived in multiple geographic areas. Masters degree. Recognized in the field. Respected in the business. Commitment to people development. Strong emotional intelligence. Not here. Not even one. As a result, all the good work done by the previous leader has been undone, credibility is shot and havoc ensues. People leave in droves. Strategy: As someone else mentioned, Carestream is without an effective long term strategy that makes sense. Look, if you need a PH.D in Statistics to explain and understand the strategy, it probably isn’t a good strategy. Another reason the best and bright are leaving. I could go on, but you get the idea. Things aren't good here. Haven't been for some time. Unfortunately, this is the state of empire. If you listen closely, you can hear the emperor fiddling in the background.
