Just an okay work place for a temp. Main issue in my opinion is sexism.
Some of the ratings I see here I suppose aren't exactly for the most part describing my experience as an assembler so I'll start off with what's obvious; some few minor ups and downs, then get into a lot more detail with my star ratings. A few ups to mention is there is a nice cafeteria, a decent food concession, and free coffee...that is it...a few minor downs is that it takes a solid 5 minutes to walk from the work place to the cafeteria on a 15 minute break, and that is only if you are walking as humanely fast as possible. On Fridays, it's even worse because the cafeteria is closed during 30 minute breaks. You first have to clock out, then walk at a racing pace to the parking lot, then unlawfully speed to the nearest fast food place, get food (hopefully before anyone else), speed back, then if you're lucky, you'll have five minutes to eat. So to avoid all that, just bring your own lunch. However, should you decide to bring your lunch, you'll have to store it in a fridge with everyone else's, good luck with that. I don't exactly know if anyone has had any problems with storing their lunch with everyone else's.
Welp, that's the minor stuff. Moving on:
Job Culture: I've rated 2 stars:
The atmosphere I feel from the majority of everyone there is pretty stressful partly in fault of most supervisors' leadership style, but mostly the employees for having bad attitudes. dn near everyone there is a temp, except for people who've been working there for at least a mini
ProsFree coffee
Conspoor management: first line leaders specifically
2.0
Manufacturing Associate | Irvine, CA | Sep 20, 2014
Diverse Culture is not 95 percent Asian and 5 percent all other races.
Alcon's Culture has created an unfair work environment for those who do not speak the lingo. I watched new Asian associates that would that would get much more help training and explanation in there own tongue than I received while I was starting, I was kind of left as (sink or swim). Also, when you have an English speaking Caucasian training other employees that don't really have a grasp on English, its very difficult and frustrating to have to go over information 3 times over. I worked over two years at Alcon and was amazingly surprised to find Documentation errors on a product line that had been released for over Ten ( 10 ) years. It wasn't a critical error, but it is something that is easily corrected, and it never got done. A lot of Alcon's manufacturing hang ups is do to process and procedures that need to be written and worded differently. Example: Cycle Count, your process states that the individual who enters the data into the computer, is the person who does the actual count. So when assigned cycle counters come to work in the morning they will distribute the cycle counts to other employees to count and give them back results. Then the Permanent Associate inputs the data. Now with the heads up that an Auditor will be in the area the assigned cycle counter will have everybody help him early in the morning, and save 2 or 3 cycle counts for the Auditor, so they can tell them and say they follow the procedure all the way through, when its actually not there normal Dail
ProsLiked being in advanced technical situations, and drive was'nt bad.
ConsSee above review
1.0
Principal Software Engineer | Irvine, CA | Jan 25, 2020
Try for a full time role in R&D if anything
They hired me as a contractor. Within a few months of my working with them they let one of the key team members go and gave me his responsibility in the project. Not only did they not adjust my status or compensation but they did not even change the expectations of the project timeline. All in all a lot of the people I have worked with are nice and friendly. There are a few bad apples that seem to be rather prejudice towards contractors and really did not want much of anything to do with us. The method of management and hiring is just absurd though. I had my division manager (my bosses boss) screaming like a child in a group meeting. He was berating one of our project managers because he didn't like how the format of a slide was. He almost made her cry and had to have a subordinate step in to defuse the situation. I believe that we may have even had some complaints to HR on the matter. All in all it was VERY inappropriate for a multi-national corporation meeting and I would be very ashamed to be his boss. As for hiring goes they will string you along as long as they can. I have watched a number of contractors be told they were the Subject Matter Expert in a field just to then not have the contract renewed the following month. While on the other side of things I have seen contractors that have failed at the project at hand get promoted into a full time role. It seems like its more about who you know then what you know. It also seems like no one really knows how
Benefits of working at Alcon, a division of Novartis are great
The benefits of working at Alcon are quite good. The compensation includes, for territory managers, a company fleet vehicle with gas card provided as well as insurance and the cost of any maintenance or repairs. The 401k plan is matched up to 6% with an additional 7% provided by Novartis regardless of amount you contribute individually. Health benefits include medical, dental and vision. The work requirements have increased over the years as higher and higher levels of productivity have been extracted from the employed base of service engineers. Cross training among the many surgical platforms has enhanced job security, but deteriorated home life and free time beyond the 8 - 5 work schedule. In addition to the expectations of working as a field engineer, much more has been migrated to the field from the corporate office to take care of what was formerly administrative functions carried out by the service support centers. This added burden of time requirement does not contribute to "productivity" and is simply required as a part of the territory managers new, re-defined, job requirements. This has made retention of new and older territory managers very difficult to maintain.
Co-workers are supportive and offer a team approach to solving customer service needs in a timely fashion.
Most enjoyable part of the job is the satisfaction of successfully repairing equipment so that the customer can be fully up and productive in serving their customers.
The hardest pa
4.0
Field Service Engineer | Central, CA | Oct 29, 2020
Competitive pay and benefits, bureaucracy and unjust pay.
As it mentions, they offer great pay and benefits, co-workers can provide a great environment and support resources.
For the cons the bureaucracy is outrageous, and I had originally started off in house and transferred to the field. I couldn't get the actual offered salary for the position due to being an Alcon employee and they could only give me time and a half of my current salary for the position. In other words, say a position starts off at 75000 a year and you currently make 25000 a year, they wont start you off at the starting rate of the new position or even 65-70k per year. They will tell you we can only raise your income to around 41.7k a year, even though you're well qualified for the position and the manager wants to hire you. Basically to say, they treat transferring to a different department and position as a "raise" and not accepting a whole new position. They will tell you afterwards they'll try to "catch" you up to where you're supposed to be, but when you're raises are basically capped to 2% per year...it'll never happen. Also, reviews and bonuses are rated for things out of your control, eg. software errors, parts being added to your inventory virtually even though it wasn't ordered or received, customer reviews in regards parts availability for repairs, which effect our yearly reviews, is out of a field engineers control, but we're still graded on it.
ProsCompetitive pay and benefits, co-workers-environment.
ConsBureaucracy, training, favoritism, competitive pay only if a new employee, if you're transferring to a different position, prepared to be undercut massively..
I was hired to work here from a 3rd party recruiter as a contractor for a Project Management position recently out of college. The pay was well at first and my responsibilities were clear from the beginning, however, the workload started to pile up (management began to implement tedious paper work) and there was no change in pay. The process to get projects approved by "upper-management" took a ridiculously long time and they were the same people "pushing" our team to get these projects done. The work was not hard at all, but I feel like the people in "upper-management" don't care and they don't even bother to share their feedback on projects during meetings until after the projects are complete and it the project is not to their "liking". There was a lot of unnecessary "back and forth" between the project management team and quality control/assurance - there was no clear "process/protocol" to follow which lead to both sides being confused and stressed with one another. This is just due to lack of training and communication.
A few extra "downsides" as a contractor here are that you cannot park "onsite" (you have to park on the street or in a reserved parking lot and take a shuttle), you don't get any of the company benefits, there is no room for growth (why else would they hire a contractor aka temporary worker) and lastly, lack of recognition.
ProsSupervisor support (at least when I was there), Over Time Pay (what I should of been paid during regular hours)
ConsWork during holidays, location, lack of recognition, little to no advancement opportunities, unorganized, communication
3.0
Electromechanical Technician | Johns Creek, GA | Nov 5, 2016
Great work atmosphere but HORRIBLE lower level management
I worked at ALCON-John's Creek and it is unfortunately a mirage. It is built up to be an awesome place to work with state of the art equipment but with the current supervisors and managers, they kill the vibe. If you're GREAT at what you do, you're going to be bullied because advancement is so tight. From that point the feeling of being alone sinks in. The starting pay needs to be higher because of how difficult it is to advance. If you're coming into ALCON as an Electromechanic Technician, negotiate the pay you want. Once hired on there's no guarantee of any raises. My starting pay was $25.70 per hour. Staying in Atlanta, that kind of pay is mediocre. I figured the knowledge I would acquire by working on the new PLC programs they have would help compensate, but they already have people that works on programming. So all in all, it's a great atmosphere to work in, but once you walk through the doors, you're on your own...no training, no tools, and if you're an outstanding tech, you'll be faced with many obstacles while trying to move up. If anyone interested in an electromechanic position at the John's Creek facility, the grass isn't always greener on the other side if you're looking for greener pastures. But if you're just starting off in this field, it would be an awesome first gig to learn and start your resume off right.
ProsBenefits, employees get free contacts for them and their dependants, on site gym for employees, company sponsored employee events, it's in Atlanta
ConsMid grade pay, horrible management, TRAFFIC SUCKS, and no uniforms
Long-established company going through growing pains
It's been a few years since I was part of the Alcon Communications department, so it's very possible that things have changed since I left in May 2014.
The biggest challenges I faced were:
* Poorly communicated and constantly shifting stakeholder expectations, time lines and priorities
* Daily or weekly brush fires that required large portions of the team to drop everything and address the immediate issue, regardless of its ROI or importance to the business
* Poor management / feedback methodology. The few times I received constructive criticism the issue(s) at hand had festered to the extent that the feedback from management often came out sounding like a personal attack.
* No effort to utilize and cultivate the talent available in the department (again, this is only in Communications in 2010-2014). Lip service was paid to the concept of empowering and training existing staff, but the truth was that there were few opportunities to advance skills and move up the ladder.
* Tense, uncomfortable work environment that felt as though everyone was scared to death they would lose their jobs. (Some did, like myself).
ProsGreat benefits, good place to work depending on department, opportunity to expand your career to international Alcon or Novartis locations
ConsHigh stress, responsibility without authority, unrealistic expectations, business users could not effectively collaborate with IT to work toward solutions, so it became a relationship between rivals rather than one of teamwork.
Fun, exciting, enjoyable, learning, changing place to work
When starting at Alcon, we had a "family" atmosphere. Our superiors encouraged us and helped us learn to better selves in our positions and encouraged us to reach for the stars by trying to get a better paying/rewarding position within our company - learn as much as possible about what we do. Suggestions for various improvements were overly welcomed.
Through the years, this company attitude changed to be a big business global attitude. We felt very fortunate each day that we had employment with Novartis. It became a different atmosphere, but I tend to be adaptable and tried very hard to play the role of peace-maker in every situation. There always seemed to be someone in the conversation complaining; then, I would say something like, "look at the learning opportunity we've been given to help change things and make them flow in an easier/better way overall."
The teams that I worked with were fun and enjoyable and I had very wonderful supervisors that I always respected and tried to cater to their work needs each moment.
Proscoffee room with snacks, installed a Starbucks, onsite cafeteria, tours of different departments and buildings, onsite healthcare office, Vitality program, onsite gymnasium and outside health spots - encouraged great health management for each individual, variable work scheduel
Conslay-offs, then turn around and add to onsite employment positions
5.0
Pharmaceutical Sales Representative | Oklahoma | Aug 20, 2015
Fun, fast-paced, family, and team oriented atmosphere
Typical day of work consisted of 8 hours of calling on clinics and providing product knowledge and a resource for the physician and staff.
I've learned that Pharmaceutical sales has a stigma of being glorified salesman, but there is a lot more to it than what meets the common eye. Ranging from the extensive research it requires to help overcome barriers within clinics and staying focused on executing an extensive call.
We have strong team work and have an excellent manager who allows us to maintain our territory by letting us formulate the best actions to ensure our accounts are being taken care of in a timely manner and armed with thorough product knowledge and support
The hardest part of the industry was extensive driving and catching the physicians in clinic on the right time and day. Secondly, educating staff along with pharmacies on how to properly access rebate programs to a lot the patient the best possible value for them when they are at the cash register has been difficult when dealing with managed care.
The most rewarding part of the job is that it was not a job at all, it is a career. I enjoy waking up knowign that I had the ability to help change a patient's life each and every day.
ProsTime management, Personal reward and achievement, Helping make patient's lives better.
Un ambiente laboral agradable,que promueve el trabajo en equipo,logrando encausar a todos en el logro de los objetivos generales
Un ambiente de trabajo agradable,con unas directrices organizacionales realistas, que involucran al individuo dentro de los objetivos generales, de tal manera que permite un asesoramiento y acompañamiento de la gerencia(distintos niveles jerárquicos involucrados,ej gerente de distrito,gerente de division,gerente de mercadeo,etcr) en la consecución de esos objetivos individulaes y asi gestar el logro de los objetivos generales .Todo lo anterior dentro del marco del respeto al ser humano,el foco a esos resultados y un portafolio de productos oftálmicos excelentes de primer orden que colocan a al compañía como el líder mundial de productos oftalmicos.
Las relaciones con los colegas fluian con un clima de cordialidad,colaboración y respeto ,haciendo el ambiente laboral muy ameno.
Un día laboral transcurría con la realización de mis actividades previamente programadas(la semana anterior),en donde a través del tiempo ,el conocimiento de los médicos( su estilo de personalidad;Estable,afable,etcr,),el conocimiento de mis productos y de mi competencia directa,dentro de un marco de profesionalismo,se desarrollaba una visita objetivizada,con foco en la eficacia y esto es; el lograr que cada vez más ,nuestros médicos se sintieran atendidos en sus necesidades ,conscientes de tener el mejor recurso para sus paciente(nuestros productos),avalados por el mejor respaldo cientifico y médico.
Lo anterior enmarcado en una ambiente agradable,generando empatía,nunca olvidando que el médico como t
Proscar compañy, seguro medico prepagado, un buen ambiente laboral
Consorganigrama reducido, pocas posibilidades de desarrollo profesional
Empresa líder en su sector, que proporciona internamente unas condiciones de trabajo al empleado optimas.
Es una empresa ambiciosa, que busca el reconocimiento situándose a la vanguardia del sector con el desarrollo de sus productos oftalmológicos. Comprometida con el producto, con la investigación y el medio ambiente, con la repercusión medioambiental de su actividad, con la implicación del trabajador en la empresa y con sus necesidades. Promueve un club social de la empresa con actividades para los hijos de los trabajadores. Concede notables beneficios sociales al trabajador y lo dota del material necesario para el desarrollo de sus funciones.
En Alcon trabajé siguiendo los procedimientos de GMP's, que garantizaban una calidad en todo el proceso. Me familiaricé con la documentación que acompaña las GMP.
Mis funciones fueron varias, desde la elaboración de pedidos con pistolas de radiofrecuencia, tanto picking pack como custon pack; control en el punto de validación de los pedidos; traspaso del producto de un embalaje, con una cantidad determinada de unidades a otro embalaje de menor cantidad, siguiendo la normativa (retrabajo); mantenimiento del orden del almacén; uso de las carretillas elevadoras para acceder al producto que se destinaba a su retrabajo, como a la reposición del producto en sus ubicaciones para su utilización posterior.
Buen ambiente de trabajo, y una experiencia de aprendizaje inmejorable.
ProsTareas variadas, comedor de empresa, servicio de lavandería, cambio de turnos con otro compañero, proximidad a mi domicilio, comunicación empresa-empleado fluida, formación por parte de la empresa, buen ambiente de trabajo
One of THE WORST places I have ever worked!! I had the misfortune of working in Alcon through an agency as a product builder for a few months. From the moment we started we were treated like second class citizens because we were agency workers!! We were always pushed harder than the full time emplOyees. We were expected,not asked, to do overtime. From the moment you got in, they would work you to the bone, and even then they still weren't happy! The daily and hourly targets were ridiculously high, and the work environment was horrible. Small,claustrophobic clean rooms. The work was incredibly monotonous, but worst of all were the senior staff. I was given out to by a supervisor for being at the clocking in machine 3 minutes before time. We weren't allowed talk to each other even as we worked. I remember thinking, I would have had a better life in prison.
An incident at Christmas summed Alcon up for me. It was the final straw. All employees were invited to a posh hotel for a really nice Christmas dinner, except for agency emplyees. We were told to take a days holidays at our own expense. Even though we were in there, doing the same work as the other,following the same rules as procedures. Not very fair. I have seen how they treat their full time employees and I was foolish to think they would treat agency employees better! This company are taking total advantage of peoples desperation for employment, and therefore think they can treat people whatever way they deem fit. I li
ProsNONE
ConsToo many to list.
Questions And Answers about Alcon
If you were in charge, what would you do to make Alcon a better place to work?
Asked Nov 15, 2019
In Southern California there are about 50% more employees than needed to run R&D. 50% of the employees do stuff, 50% of the employees get in the way of people doing stuff. Entire departments exist that do nothing but take credit for your work but are in control of the “SOP”s required to do something so you have no choice but to wait a month while they pretend to have done your work for it to get put into the system. Drawing attention to the horrible bottlenecks and amount of people who make the company operate incredibly slow while wasting hundreds of millions will only get you in trouble.
Answered Oct 22, 2021
I would gut the front office and HR departments and replace with compassionate, intelligent people.
Answered Nov 7, 2020
What is the interview process like at Alcon?
Asked Jul 13, 2016
Very interesting and also an eye opener to greater opportunity, on how to serve the people and the community better in terms of their needs and want
Answered Apr 1, 2020
Great and gave me great opportunity to be bold and confident in all l do
Answered Mar 29, 2020
Are you working in a climate controlled environment?
Asked Mar 24, 2017
Air conditioned but you have on a jacket that you must wear at all times ! Constantly moving makes it hot underneath.
Answered Jun 15, 2019
There are different areas in every plant. Some rooms are controlled while others are not. The area I work in is a controlled environment. So, it just depends.
Answered Apr 2, 2018
Why did you leave your job at Alcon Labs?
Asked Mar 15, 2017
Currently employed. Looking for a fair and compromising company
Answered Jul 10, 2019
We were sub contracted.I was let go for being a whistle blower.Canon didn't appreciate me talking to Alcon Hr about something that happened and just got sweep under the carpet until and Alcon employee reported it.till this day it upsets me.I losted my servence pkg.everything.my life was ruined.
Answered May 8, 2019
Does Alcon require random drug testing after employed?
Asked Sep 24, 2016
Drug testing is during temp employment and when getting hired on as an a Alcon employee. Other than that, they will do a random drug test if anything is suspicious.
