Good and Bad - depends on what you are looking for
Pros
Spent 12 years in 3 different business units. Earned a good salary, continuous promotions. Culture: It's an old boys club that is striving for political reasons to move more females and minorities into sr. executive positions. Commercially: The name Covidien pulls ALOT of weight in the market. It enables products that aren't necessarily #1 to lead because of the ability to maneuver price and reputation.
Cons
Pay: You are paid under the umbrella of 'total compensation'. Meaning mid-level salary + high bonus potential. Problem is in the last 6 years, R&MS has failed to meet a full bonus. Work/Life Balance: The company runs incredibly lean and seems to always be in a spending and/or hiring freeze. The challenge is do more with less. If that works with your lifestyle, then you'll exceed and be promoted accordingly. Culture: New name on the door, but still Tyco Healthcare (look at the CEO). They talk a good game about risk taking and in ways they've made incredible leaps, but at the end of the day, they will always be adverse to anything that could jeopardize stock price. In addition, the R&D funds are always in flux and it's a game to get and maintain the funding. I can say specifically to R&MS - that business unit will never succeed. They just do not have the intestinal fortitude to push through the tough times.
