Atrocious leadership and toxic culture - Preclinical Laboratory Technician Johnson & Johnson Employee Review

2.0
Mar 24, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- onsite clinic - flexible start time

Cons

- In spite of how it’s advertised, the job is mostly janitorial, where you’re catering to the whims of other teams, making the work itself both degrading and unfulfilling - There’s a lot of interesting projects going on, but your direct involvement is mostly limited to being a janitor/doordasher for those actually doing it - Of the few things that aren’t janitorial, management has very little understanding about the nature of the work and doesn’t seem to know or do much of anything - Management will delegate almost all of their tasks to the team, then throw the team under the bus to cover their own screwups - Management will neglect to assign trainings, essentially setting you up to fail then using that as pretext against you - I was told I needed to facilitate my own training, in spite of that being clearly listed as the responsibility of the lab manager - I could not physically access the lab for weeks until I took matters into my own hands. This is the first time in any job I was tasked with doing my own onboarding - Team members will police each other at the behest of management - Coworkers will hold you to double standards, like when they occasionally take three hour long coffee breaks off campus then complain when they see you taking your 10 minute break - The excessive surveillance and monitoring coming from the team and manager made it feel as though you needed to be out of sight anytime you wanted to take one of your breaks - Some of those people display poor emotional regulation, where they will insult, yell, and badmouth colleagues in front of management with no consequences, in large part because they absorb a lot of that manager’s responsibilities, albeit very poorly - There’s also an undercurrent of sabotage, where certain people will withhold information about assignments, push you out of trainings, and make revisions to your work schedule without notice - Management lies pathologically about almost everything and engages in gossiping and mudslinging themselves, both contributing and enabling that toxic work culture while sowing distrust

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5.0
Jul 14, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
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Pros

Fast paced and collaborative culture

Cons

Not a tech company culture

3.0
Jul 9, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There is a good work life balance.

Cons

- bureaucracy, everything take longer than needs to - culture is "J&J nice," precludes discussing difficult problems blocking progress - hostile to people with autism or others with neurodivergence - diversity is poor, if you are black you very likely not feel "seen" - higher penalties for women being assertive than men - will engage in constructive discharge to get rid of people perceived as difficult to work with - The ratings for employees are on a curve, if you are in a strong team, higher ratings are hard won, not everyone can be exceptional, even if they meet the J&J definition of exceptional. - Feedback is vague, not specific, actionable or helpful. Some manager are good coaches, but they are exceptions. - If you get a moderate rating you are in danger of being laid off. - In the Bay Area, pay is not competitive. HR has data saying otherwise, but I assure you, it is incorrect. Odds are, you will take a pay cut to join.

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