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Thermo Fisher Scientific

Engaged Employer

Stay Away from Pleasanton Location! - Engineer Thermo Fisher Scientific Employee Review

1.0
Oct 18, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good people, who have been forced out due to their hard working ethics, compliance, and support for employees. Many of those have been forced out, so it is going downhill. Another good perk was when they were having after hour BBQ events in Pleasanton. Not sure why those went away, but they probably were there because of the good and sincere individual they forced out.

Cons

Having worked as an Engineer at Thermo Fisher has been the most unbearable experience of my life. A top notch student and a UC Cal graduate, I expected more out of the organization. Yes, it used to be Life Technologies, but is now Thermo Fisher. It was already lacking when it was Life Technologies. Harassment from the site leadership level became unbearable after a while. You have manufacturing leadership yelling at employees or humiliating them. I recall a time when a leader yelled at a new employee until the employee was in tears. Then you have site leadership who are barely on site. There was hope at one time when they had new Global Leadership, but anyone with new ideas eventually gets pushed out due to the aggressive politics. I never imagined that someone doing the right thing for the organization, and getting departments in alignment with regulations would be pushed out. Not only that, what this leader did in a short time with the morale of department all positive. Still, due to the politics involved, the site leaders used hearsay rather than facts to maintain the status quo; I won’t stoop to their level and describe the sordid details. Hosting site events using personal funds and efforts to ensuring regulatory compliance throughout the site were just a couple of the many positives the Global Leader brought. There is one particular manager, who is now the site Lead had enough power to push someone out. It was apparent and evident that this person was the main culprit and yet was excellent in blaming others. Wake up, we all knew it was you! I really don’t think the Pleasanton site has a future in employee retention. Unless they remove the ones on the top, including the newly appointed site Leader. The main reason why I left 4 months after they pushed out the best down to earth, open hearted, and intelligent Leader I have had the opportunity to work for. I couldn’t bear it in my stomach the questionable things going at the site. From short cuts in compliance to not following procedures. Bypassing processes just to get product out the door. Now this is NOT hearsay because I was asked to help with this! The site really does not get it that they are going to be embarking on inspections by the agency. And here they have a Site Leader that never worked in a regulated environment. The Site has an answer for that too. The site hired consultants to generate all the regulated procedures. These efforts won’t resolve the issue. Hello? It will all be on the shoulder of the site leader. Agency does not accept excuses for not complying with regulations! My advice is to work here at your own risk. Better yet find work somewhere else.

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Pros

Pay, benefits, growth opportunities, cross-functional teamwork and great culture

Cons

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1.0
Jun 20, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

If you're stuck in the Greenville area for some unfortunate reason, it's a job.

Cons

This place is functionally a mafia. The same rotating cast of "old head" people that have been at the site for decades watches each other's backs, and overworks everyone else. God help you if you're actually capable or smart, because they will overload you as much as possible, while ensuring that they, and their pals, do as little as possible. They really have no concept of capacity management at all. There is no math, metrics, or even mild logic that goes in to how they define R&R or distribute work. No one really knows how to do anything at all. Things that sound simple, like shipping a sample for instance.. Well, clear your afternoon. It doesn't help that all of their systems are completely antiquated. I should also note that you won't get any support on anything really, from training to execution. No one wants to be here, and it's so obvious. The place looks and feels like a prison because it is. It doesn't even pay that well compared to other pharma companies! That barbed wire isn't there to keep people out, it's to keep them in.

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