Before reading any reviews, I encourage you to look at the rating trend over time. Back in October, HR sent a company wide email asking for employees to help raise the rating on Glassdoor. At the time of the email, FSNS was rated at 2.9; at the time of this review, they are now at a 2.0. A downward trend of this magnitude, over this length of time, and despite a plea to help raise the ratings is not anomalous. It is a clear indication that the company is headed in the wrong direction and that it either does not care about its employees or upper management is incapable of solving the problem. The numbers do not lie. The numbers say, stay away from this company as it is unlikely to get better any time soon.
The company vision statement says they wish to be sought out by customers and loved by employees. They do an excellent job with the former; so much so, they completely ignore the latter.
Work-life balance will always be somewhat of an issue in this line of work. Clients will have rush testing or special projects that require longer and unusual hours; however, FSNS does nothing to prepare for these situations. The labs remain chronically understaffed due to the painstaking amount of time to hire new people. While it is important to find quality people it should not take months to hire for an entry level position. I have seen good candidates be missed, simply because management dragged their feet in the hiring process and the candidates got tired of waiting for a call back so they took another job. Furthermore, if a lab ever is "fully staffed" it is staffed only to cover the minimum level of testing. This means, if anyone takes time off, calls in sick, there are positive samples, or there is extra testing to be done, the lab will once again be trying to function in an understaffed environment. In the time I have worked for this company, less than 10% of it have we been staffed to a functional level. Expect long hours and extra days. Working for this company has put a strain on my relationships outside of work and I have seen it strain many others.
FSNS claims to hold quality as a top priority but their actions speak volumes against this. Overworked staff lead mistakes and shortcuts taken. New employees are not taught how to read or utilize SOPS, they are trained almost exclusively by word of mouth, and like a game of telephone, the end result is often an atrocious misinterpretation of what is supposed to happen. Document updates are very rarely passed on from management, so if a procedural change happens, you will not find out until much later when a mistake is made. This is terrifying as an employee because there can be legal as well as health ramifications placed on your shoulders simply because management did not do their job in communicating the necessary information to you. Furthermore, I have observed management call samples negative for pathogens out of incompetence and perform testing to sub-par standards. There is no method in place to anonymously report unethical activity and if you dare to report things with your name attached, there are no safeguards against retribution from those you reported. I have seen technicians more harshly punished for performing methods incorrectly than the management who trained them to do the testing that way in the first place.
There are very few members of management that I believe can be trusted on their word. Most are incapable of following through on commitments and will keep dragging you along with promises of training, better shifts, and promotions. The moment a more convenient solution for them comes along their word goes out the door. Do not believe anything until it is actually done. Even if it is in writing, there is no guarantee they will hold up their end of the bargain.
Overall, I recommend not working for this company. It may be good for a year to build a resume if you are passionate about the field but any more than that and you will find yourself unhappy and dreading going into work. The patterns do not lie, this company is not headed in the right direction and must make some drastic changes if it ever will be.
