Team work makes the dream work... sometimes
Pros
Co-workers are wonderful. It's a true team environment which is a comfortable feeling that I haven't had for years in job. The work-life balance is awesome; you can create your own hours in certain departments. You can always learn more, if you want. Documentation of work is clean, if not nit-picky, which is always a positive in science work. You can really build profession skills here. Plenty of female leadership, which I loved.
Cons
You can always learn more, but you won't always be compensated for taking on more responsibilities. A good employee might be recognized by management in the lab, but HR might reward the person who is most willing to negotiate instead. There's also limited growth past the scientist position. This leaves good employees feeling undervalued. The organization of the company by team is the only motivation to work hard, not the pay. You want to make sure no one on your team has to pick up your slack. I'm sure corporate knows that. You will be underpaid here, and you'll likely be paid a significant difference from the person you were hired with for reasons that have no bearing on what kind of employee you are. Background about myself: I'm a young, white, female without a family. There is lots of diversity at PPD, and they're respectful of family life. But it turns out I was making more than many people in my position. Most of my co-workers at the same level had more work experience, higher degrees, had worked at PPD longer, and were better team players than I ever was. I was not really given any reason why I made more money.
