Forest Labs Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Forest Labs

Pros – CEO is ethical.
Smaller pharma
competitive salaries
competitive benefits package
some very good managers
some excellent very bright and hardworking colleagues on the scientific side

Cons – Growing pains
increasing bureaucracy
less time off, smaller bonuses than other pharmas
very lean staffing, huge workload
drug development is turning into an assesmbly line that is being sped up with out regard for worker burnout
quantity and timelines taking precedent in recent years vs. quality

Advice to Senior Management – be careful of employee burnout at Forest Research Institute
remember the old saying that one can have timelines, budget, or quality but not all 3

Current Employee – been working at Forest Labs

Pros – good benefits, hours are steady no overtime, summer hours, no layoffs

Cons – no direction from managers, hr is totally confused, very old boy networking mentality

Advice to Senior Management – upgrade technology to at least be competitive, hire experienced pharma people, get rid of the unproductive employees,

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Forest Labs

Pros – Strong cash position, staffing up, not downsizing yet

Cons – If you are your own man/woman look out. Micromanagement that is downright annoying. If you were not there at the beginning your experience will be second class. Duplicity and backstabbing are the rule in FRI.

Advice to Senior Management – The organization is upside down, you hire experienced people from great companies, but ignore them regularly. I would not be able to encourage someone I respected to work here, unless they were looking for a shorter leash.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Forest Labs

Pros – management will reward good work; congenial work environment; people are younger than in the rest of Pharma; good location

Cons – small company management with big Pharma goals; marketing has a big voice there; your career advancement highly depends on who's advocating for you from above, so politics plays a big role; flexible work options not allowed

Advice to Senior Management – Keep rewarding good work to keep your talented employees; allow for flexible work options for those who put in extra time and effort for the company

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Forest Labs

Pros – The pay and benefits are excellent at Forest Labs. If you work hard you can make a lot of money as with any pharmaceutical job.

Cons – Success can depend on many factors such as territory, managed care and most important your manager. Your manager can make or break you at Forest Labs.

Advice to Senior Management – Open up more communication to the field in terms of future product pipeline. Limit territories to one or two representatives max.

Current Employee – been working at Forest Labs

Pros – Nice work-family balance. Nice benefits, clean environment, nice people, decent location, minimal micromanagement from the executive level.

Cons – SALARY!!!!! Clearly well-below average. Other than that, it would be career opportunity. They do not have a good career path for employees; therefore, we rarely retain good to excellent talent. It seems to be a "starting" place for many college graduates and then they move on. Executives seem "okay" with this concept.

Advice to Senior Management – Please pay people what they deserve with respect to other jobs in the same market. We have a talented group of people and it would be wise to retain best talent as opposed to train and rehire, constantly!

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Forest Labs

Pros – FOrest has good pay and good benefits. The people really do care about the company and the management seems to aswell.

Cons – There is alot of politics and Forest seems to have a bad reputation among the sales force. Additionally, it is highly structured and you cannot advance redily before its time...

Advice to Senior Management – Keep up the good work. Keep it family friendly and keep the generous profit sharing plan in place. Also, keep the office nice!

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Forest Labs

Pros – Good projects
Based on research, not on crazy ideas
Everyone was really nice and helpful once you get to know them
I really liked a lot of the management

Cons – Some micromanaging
Too hierarchical, not enough room to make independent decsions
Lots of politics that came to the forefront quickly

Advice to Senior Management – It would be good to treat all employees the same, the assistants are your backbone and should be treated that way.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Forest Labs

Pros – People are smart, at the lower levels at least. Can't speak for upper management.

People are also hard-working and collaborative.

Cons – Rampant micromanagers every where. Sink or swim mentality, and it is difficult to push innovative marketing tactics through the approval process. Analysis paralysis. Not into risk taking.

Advice to Senior Management – Need to embrace the changing market environment, and get with the times! Stop being such stick in the muds, please!

Current Employee – been working at Forest Labs

Pros – Forest is a small organization which equals more visibility for employees giving them more opportunity for advancement, depending on your manager and the department in which you work you can really grow. Senior management appears to be very ethical but a little old-fashioned. As one of only two pharma companies with corporate offices in NYC it is a great location.

Cons – As a whole the organization is not open to alternative work arrangements, at the very senior level there is micro-management, and it is not the most diverse company. Though it doesn't have many layers it can be beaucratic and frustrating to push through new ideas.

Advice to Senior Management – For managers who have been at the company for many years -- 9 years plus -- encourage them to get continuing education in their field to stay cutting edge. Consider flexible work arrangements.