Life is too short to work for Walgreens ( IT ) - Senior Software Engineer Walgreens Employee Review

1.0
Dec 12, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You don't have to supremely talented to get by here. The talent level across the board is abysmal. If you have decent vocabulary, you can talk your way to prolonged employment. If you manage to get into IT somehow and turns out that you can not tell the difference between java and ip address, there is little reason to worry. You will be promptly promoted to middle management. So, it all works in your favor.

Cons

The problem with Walgreens is that it revels in cheapness that forces everyone to accept mediocrity as a way of life. As a consequence, this place turned into mediocrity magnet. There are managers that bring in their relatives with practically zero qualifications and experience for the positions they are hired for. They still manage to survive as the competence is not really expected from a typical Walgreens IT worker. Any self respecting IT professional who joins unwittingly is guaranteed to bolt within a couple of months. Smart guys who are stuck here turn complacent over time and learn to act dumb so that they can blend in the environment. The technology is horribly outdated and at least a decade behind other companies around. The company perennially runs on keep-the-lights-on mode and that kicks any sort of innovation to the curb. Most of the jobs are outsourced to the cheapest bidders from India and the quality of the contractors show. Needless to say, the cheapness of Walgreens extends to the working conditions as well. The office environment at Lincolnshire is so dirty that I am sure they must be violating a dozen OSHA regulations. This was by far the worst company I have worked so far in my life.

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5.0
Apr 13, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

It was fun to talk to ppl

Cons

It was a little too dangerous

3.0
Jun 25, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Can be a fun environment. All in whom your staff is. Operating photo was fun and building projects for the customers. Learning about pharmacy operations.

Cons

Work life balance and low pay for what is expected. Not having enough payroll to effectively run a store. My store ran FE on a 320 hour a week budget. That was barely enough to get buy and meet the expectations put out by the company. I was never able to keep a full leadership staff. When a leader called out, I had to stay. There were days I was called away from my own dinner table. SM's were forced to be in the pharmacy for more than half of their day regardless as to what is happening in the FE. I worked over 50 hours a week and barely got to spend time with my family. If I wasn't at the store I was getting a phone call and having to go back to the store.

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