Parexel reviews

The workload is high and can be very high - 100+ hour weeks in some departments - due to intentional understaffing and high turnover . In my group there were many inexperienced people doing work beyond their capabilities because of the inability to recruit and retain experienced employees, leading to many quality issues, rework, and lost business. Several positions in my department were eliminated or significantly redefined in a short period of time leading to massive confusion about responsibilities and frustration as people were now expected to do jobs different from what they thought they had been hired to do. There is a very strong culture of blame and not taking accountability at all levels, by far the worst I've experienced in 9 years in the CRO industry. There is constant finger pointing and functional groups do not work as a team; this lack of teamwork was even noticed by sponsor on my study. All of this leads to a highly stressful environment. I know several professional people to have just walked out of PAREXEL, and more that gave notice but did not have another job lined up. There is nothing - pay, benefits, opportunities - that make working at PAREXEL worth it..

Director/VP level leadership generally poor. For the most part folks at that level are far from impressive. There are exceptions, but they're few and far between. Predominantly people at that level are there through having hung around for years rather than having been recruited or promoted for genuine merit or talent. Heaven help you if you dare to disagree with people at this level, they're like petulant children that can't tolerate constructive critiques or even suggestions. Poor communication regarding where your immediate department is heading. Grotesquely dated and bureaucratic, nasty politics. Some highly toxic individuals who have mastered "kiss up, kick down" to the level of an art form. Truly shocked at who stays and who gets pushed out. They seem convinced employees are simply cogs in a machine; there's a relentless race to the bottom via a push to offshore work rather than employing bright people who can innovate to achieve sustainable improvements.