Pros
The work-life balance at IDEXX has been genuinely solid throughout my time here. My immediate team and manager are exceptional - supportive, collaborative, and incredibly skilled at navigating uncertainty while keeping morale intact. There's real talent here, and when the company functions as intended, the results show it. Cross-functional collaboration generally works well, with colleagues who are open to working together rather than creating silos. IDEXX also continues to genuinely support neurodivergent colleagues and other marginalized groups in ways that feel authentic rather than performative, which stands out in the corporate world. The company culture I initially joined was tech-forward but humanity-focused - a rare combination that delivered real results. When leadership and teams are aligned, IDEXX can accomplish impressive things. The foundation of what made this place special is still visible in pockets throughout the organization.
Cons
Everything fundamentally changed after McKinsey arrived. A company that prided itself on never doing layoffs suddenly implemented them, followed by an arbitrary 8-days-per-month office mandate with zero data showing improved outcomes or business justification. The cultural shift is stark and troubling. The relatively new CHRO refers to employees as "human capital" - dehumanizing language that would have been unthinkable in the company I joined. This perfectly captures how leadership now views the workforce. Executive leadership is completely disconnected from ground-level reality. They demand office presence for "culture" while refusing to fund bringing remote or international colleagues to headquarters for actual culture-building. They claim to "love" seeing full offices but won't even make eye contact with employees when they're actually there - no waves, no nods, no acknowledgment. If you need badge swipes to know people are in the office, then those people probably don't need to be there. They can't articulate any business case beyond gut feelings. The leadership vacuum in IT has been particularly damaging. After our CIO's abrupt forced departure, we're left with an interim leader who has taken their direct reports on multiple international trips this year while preaching fiscal responsibility to everyone else. They're spread too thin across responsibilities, forget tasked assignments, and seem to actively undermine the department they're supposed to lead. Some departments have become bloated with highly specialized roles that feel wasteful, while power grabs are increasingly common as everyone fears the next round of layoffs. It's worth noting these changes coincided with beloved former CEO John Ayers stepping away from the Board of Directors - perhaps not coincidentally. The company I joined seven years ago and what it's becoming feel like completely different organizations.