Was Never Great but going Downhill fast Since Spinoff - Engineer Alcon Employee Review

2.0
28 Jan 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Relative Job security Not much else since other aspects are pretty standard vs other companies

Cons

Long Hours that go overlooked at annual appraisal. Old school view of work especially in post covid world. Flexibility is not a strength. Meager pay increases if any, does not keep up with rising costs of living. Not close to competitive with other companies pre pandemic but post pandemic its neglecting of the financial situation of employees is reckless. Constant hiring misses, more likely to spread work among overworked team than hire for a position vacated. Thus increasing hours/workload, but not pay. Job security creates a situation where people not primed for their position are in that role mismanaging project rollouts and day to day activities. Incentives and perks once available are being trimmed rapidly making the company less alluring: Health benefits have shrunk in favor of the company bottom line but presented as a good thing for employees. Shift from a PTO to FTO model for time off but the loss of guaranteed days and carry over days in favor for 'unlimited days but if your management permits' has resulted in employees losing days to disconnect from the intrusive nature of the job. In the end the company gets more working hours from the employees. Numbers driven: Context and effort is missing. There are strong tones of favoritism where the same attitude or situation is treated as a learning experience or even ignored for some while for the less favored it is used as a reason to deny any benefits in the future. Coasting and relying on somebody that is good at their job to hide one's ineptness is not uncommon. There also exists a lot of cost cutting and pinching pennies to save money in the immediate future without looking at why the company suffers in the long run. Some of this has been aggravated after the spin off. Demanding nature of some of the positions means there is severe worker fatigue and mental stress closer to production leading to frequent exodus of employees that are good at their jobs.

Explore other reviews about Alcon

5.0
21 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Benefits, Work Life balance and culture

Cons

Slow product development cycles and consequently growth

4.0
11 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Stable company with people that want to make a difference. Great place to learn about manufacturing practices.

Cons

No clear job roles and the company tries to squeeze work out of lower level engineers.

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