-Micro-management and very strong hierarchy. You have minimal exposure to leadership and little ability to share your ideas and work with them.
-Failure to follow through on promises about bonuses, stock incentives, and other compensation on top of the base; during recruitment, I was verbally promised compensation that never happened, and since the recruiter didn't put it in writing, I had no recourse. This is my fault for not insisting on writing, but I also think a company that would lie to recruits about benefits isn't one you should work for.
-While I was there, they reduced the employee stock purchase discount from 15% to 10% without announcing it--employees had to discover it for themselves by browsing their compensation portal. This is very typical, saving money on the backs of employees while simultaneously touting their rise through the Fortune rankings.
-They also prorated bonuses one time more than other companies I've worked for. We had our team target percentage and our company target percentage (which is typical), but then CVS also chose to underfund each team so there was a further pro-ration. There was no communicated rationale for this except that CVS was choosing not to fund the bonuses 100%.
-Within digital, there is a myopic focus on retail over PBM and specialty pharmacy, even though PBM and Specialty are responsible for the bulk of CVS' revenue. This may be because the leadership comes from a retail background and focuses on what they know.
-The Digital Innovation angle is a joke. Unless you're interested in partnerships with companies that are doing real innovation or duplicating the products other companies have launched (Apple pay, anyone?), you're better off pretty much anywhere else. This is likely why most people leave in less than a year.
-Not only would I tell anyone NOT to work at CVS, I now refuse to shop there having experienced firsthand the work environment
