Pros
Lab staff are good at helping each other. Can get some lab experience for CV
Cons
The glasgow site virology is the most horrendous place to work. It has an extremely bad impact on both your physical and mental health. The stress levels of lab staff are through the roof due to them being given a work load that is far from manageable or achievable to get through. Most people have to go without breaks just to try and get finished at a relatively decent time. Or if you are really lucky maybe you will get 20 mins and a chance to go to the toilet. On top of this the amount of overtime necessary is ridiculous. To top it off it this overtime is often not optional but rather expected. It is not a hidden fact that there is bullying from the middle management and certain supervisors. Trying to get holidays off were a nightmare and often refused. There was a rather large finger pointing culture wherby any issues that occured were automatically blamed on the lab staff. When trying to highlight any issues it seemed that management were not in the slight bit intrested but instead would get there back up and do their best to shut down the opinions of the staff. The expectations of the management and supervisors are never going to be met as they didn’t actually seem to realise the time or effort most tasks actually took. The overturn of staff is unbelievable with very few actually managing to make it past a couple of years, when I left nearly all members of the lab were actively seeking new roles and that included the newer members who hadn’t even been there for 6 months. Wages are also below what other companies are offering for similar posts. This along with my mental sanity was the biggest reason for me leaving. When I left my collegues actually congratulated me on “ getting out of the hell hole”.
