Pros
I have worked for AstraZeneca close to 10 years, and the scientific expertise is top notch, especially in oncology. You definitely feel the scientific pride and are able to work on really exciting projects. We have decent benefits, but those are on par for all big pharma. You start with 3 weeks vacation, plus one "bonus" week in December for annual holiday closure, 6% 401K match, unlimited sick time, plus 40 hours a year for "family" sick leave, FSA/HSA, etc. Unfortunately, that's about the only good things I can say about working here.
Kontras
Things have really gone downhill in recent years, especially post Covid. The return to office mandate is soul-crushing. Employees are diligently monitored and tracked with IT tools, and if you don't make the 60% in-office requirement you will not receive your bonus (which is a big part of our compensation) and will likely be fired. There's such a disconnect between the CEO, Pascal, who is insisting on return to office, and the rest of the staff. It feels like his personal war. Simply put, physically working at the office 3 days a week is miserable. there are not enough desks (by A LOT), so it's this horrible office dystopia where anyone arriving after 9:30 a.m. has to huddle in cramped corners, in the hallway, in team rooms (which then leaves no rooms available for meetings) hunched over their computers, because all the desks are taken. Because of the extreme overcrowding, there's never a quiet room to take meetings, so we're all floating in a sea of open desks shouting at our computers during meetings. You can't concentrate without noise cancelling headphones. Because of the lack of space, it is a daily occurrence to see an entire team of 5-10 people sitting individually at their desks on a MS Teams meeting - it's ridiculous. All the proposed "benefits" of collaborating in person are ruined because of lack of space. The campus is overcrowded so the cafeteria at lunch time is a war zone. Not to mention, AstraZeneca salaries are not competitive because it's a UK-based company, so you're not being well compensated for what you put up with. Between lack of competitive salaries and the misery of RTO, it makes hiring difficult. I sincerely think leadership is doing this to force people to quit, as there are also hiring freezes and as much has possible jobs are being pushed to our "hub" sites in Mississauga, Barcelona, Munich, Costa Rica, India, etc. It's been a miserable few years, and it will likely get worse before it gets better. My advice - only work here as a last resort.