AVOID AVOID AVOID Worcester!! - Anonymous employee AbbVie Employee Review

1.0
Aug 20, 2015
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Commute is much easier than other Boston-area biotechs.

Cons

VICIOUS company politics, especially within engineering. Stale company culture, driven by long-service staff whose only qualification is starting with the old BASF back in the 90s. No leadership, management or people skills at all! Career opportunities are not merit-based but based solely on who you know and who your friends are. Ditto with merit raises - new focus on core behaviors being used by management as a tool to reward friends and punish perceive threats regardless of actual performance. All decisions based on company politics, nobody even pretends to look at facts. Actual high performers are either actively job hunting or already left. Pay is very poor compared to other companies. Even the cafeteria food is awful and overpriced. DON'T RISK IT - avoid this place!

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5.0
Jun 27, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great place to work. Competitive salary and benefits.

Cons

It has been a great experience for me.

1.0
Jul 3, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Big Pharma Name Recognition: Having Allergan/AbbVie on your resume provides industry visibility.

Cons

Extreme Governance & Bureaucracy: Allergan is paralyzed by red tape. There are far too many governance layers just to get basic regulatory strategies vetted out. Flawed Compliance Infrastructure: Product approvals are heavily dependent on documentation. However, current records are completely inadequate. Management fundamentally fails to understand how these systems are interlinked. Unqualified & Absentee Leadership: The leader with department oversight completely lacks the expected knowledge and experience for this level, making her a massive liability. She is rarely in the office but knows exactly how to work the system. She aggressively pushes for unnecessary, in-person regulatory meetings solely to accumulate personal travel points rather than to mitigate actual business risks. Disastrous Transition Management: The leadership transition wreaked total havoc across the department. Negligent HR Department: HR shows zero interest in investigating why good talent is leaving the company. Alarming Job Security Signs: It is a massive red flag when a leader encourages employees to apply for roles entirely unrelated to their expertise, or receiving automated AI notifications about job openings outside your department.

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