PerkinElmer reviews

2.9

34% would recommend to a friend

(1,173 total reviews)
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Michael Stubblefield

Not enough data to show CEO approval

28% positive business outlook

PerkinElmer has an employee rating of 2.9 out of 5 stars, based on 1,173 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The PerkinElmer employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

1K reviews
1.0
Oct 12, 2016

Two years I'll never get back

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The check is direct deposited into your back account every two weeks. There is a parking garage.

Cons

The only way you should take a job at this company is if both of these rules apply: 1. You currently do not have a job - AND - 2. You have completely depleted any financial reserves that could've otherwise carried you over to finding another job that is NOT at PerkinElmer. Securing another job and leaving was the best thing that ever happened to me in my working career. Outdated software - You'll be working with the latest and greatest... as of 1997. IT and (insert other department... Operations,Finance, HR, whatever) work so poorly together nothing ever gets moved along in terms of implementation or development. IT department installs tracking software "ZSCALER" on every laptop. You've been warned. Each webpage you load, internal or external, will take a painful time to load. It actually detracts from productivity. And they're watching you. Outdated hardware - When was the last time you saw a floppy disk? In the supply closet at PerkinElmer you say? Exactly. Be prepared for major frustrations with your Lenovo laptop from 2001. Outdated policies - No working from home allowed, period. Managers with the "preference of one outweighing the benefit of many" attitude. CEO Friel is too much of a coward to take the initiative at his level. He allows managers to handle it themselves. Since these managers are outdated and stodgy in their ways, no WFH. Working through midnight? Doesn't matter, see you in the office at 8am. Better show up in a snowstorm too, that's expected. Again, not hyperbole. Reality. Outdated people - Stodgy old workers averaging in their early to mid fifties. Goodluck finding any camaraderie if you are 40 or younger. There are NO fresh ideas at PerkinElmer. "Its how we've always done it" they'll say to you with glossed over eyes. You have to print EVERYTHING. EVERY SINGLE DOCUMENT. Sending a report off to a business partner? Better print it off, because none of them can turn on a computer let alone navigate Excel. Other negatives - Winter Street (specifically the 300 or so yards by PerkinElmer HQ) will add at least 40 minutes (each way) to your commute. It doesn't matter where you are coming from, simply choosing to work here adds 1hr20m to your commute. Again, no working from home, so you can forget about that. No 360 reviews or reviews from sources outside of your manager. Have a terrible manager? Doesn't matter. Prepare to have your mind and soul crushed by his or her deviant tactics. If your 2nd level manager - your manager's manager - is a director or VP, this is especially true. Their heads are so high up in the clouds that they could have 8 people turnover underneath them for the same reason. 0% care given. This is not hyperbole. This is reality, I saw it happen 9 or 10 times in my 2 years at the company. Burn and turn. Misc Tips - If you've chosen to ignore the 2 golden rules at the top of this "Con" portion, at least abide by the following: ~Avoid working in Finance(general incompetency, turnover).~ Avoid working in HR(vengeful, potentially downright evil human beings work here).~ Avoid the Waltham location entirely, if you work at a satellite office (Boston, Hopkinton) the working environment is more productive. ~ Rob Friel is a finance man and to say he is anything more than a moron in terms of CEO aptitude, would be a lie. ~ Just work until 630pm. Yes it means you'll be putting in 10.5 hour days, but the traffic is so bad, it's the lesser of two evils. You'll get home at the same time if you leave at 630 instead of 500.~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hope on the Horizon? It's my understanding they brought in a HR Consultant or have a new HR leader to make the company more forward thinking. My inside sources tell me thus far nothing has changed after 4 months. I am happy in my new job and harbor no vengeful feelings towards PerkinElmer. I left on my own accord, after all. The above are my true observations. They are not exaggerated for emphasis, nor to prove a point. My comments here are an attempt, from one decent human being to another, to prevent you from wasting your precious time on this planet at PerkinElmer... like I did.

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PerkinElmer Response
9y
Best of luck in your new job and hope everything works out for you.
1.0
Jun 28, 2024

Disheartening

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

In my career of over 25+ the people at PerkinElmer have been the kindest nicest humans I have met. and by far the smartest, most science driven professionals I've ever worked with. Management was never perfect but was tolerable. During my time at PE, I always manage to have a good work life balance.

Cons

Ever since the split of the organization and PerkinElmer stayed with New Mountain Capital, things change for the worst. I expected things to change but not this drastically. From dishonesty on the true increase of the cost of benefits to forcing management to grant merit increases NOT based on skill but to meet an arbitrary pyramid of performance. Essentially, the substantial cuts to 401K and HSA contributions, massive cost increase to medical benefits, 0-1.5% pay raises the last two years have contributed to a mass exodus of talented people because the take home pay has decreased. On paper, you get an meager increase but your take home has gone down two years in a row.

1.0
Jan 1, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Comradery among peers, contributing to discovery and advancement of life-saving therapies.

Cons

Where to begin? New CEO is completely disconnected and seems to have no idea what PE does. NMC is strangling the business to the point that there are no merit increases, while health coverage requires more employee contribution with less contribution from PE. Much of PE's top tier talent is actively looking to jump ship as this "new" PE has no plan or structure in place to reward their best talent. Senior leaders mute mics and disable comments during townhalls, are very clearly disinterested in hearing what their people have to say. Very poor communication coming from top levels of the company, very little transparency or honesty. It took about 6 months for NMC and the new regime to kill morale, this is not a place right now for talent with other options.

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