Abcam Reviews
Updated 21 Nov 2023

Found 390 of over 606 reviews
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Excerpts from user reviews, not authored by Glassdoor
- "The company is great for people with a go get attitude willing to follow their passions and ideas." (in 67 reviews)
- "Work/life balance is great and focused on your output rather than when you turn up." (in 21 reviews)
- 5.0FEATURED REVIEW5 Jan 2023Change ManagerCurrent Employee, more than 5 yearsCambridge, England
Pros
- Company with lot of ambition, there is always opportunities to make your mark and internal mobility is well supported - Working with talented and friendly colleagues - Lot of efforts deployed by the company on employee engagement and wellbeing - Great office building: modern and spacious, good canteen and free coffee from a barista
Cons
- Learn to be patient and stand for yourself: it can take time and efforts to get recognised (although it always happens) - More rigour, structure and discipline needed
4 - 5.06 Nov 2023ManagerFormer Employee, more than 3 yearsCambridge, England
Pros
Great people, fast pace, teams genuinely ready to support each other
Cons
Salary benchmarks are low, recent growth means silos exist
1 - 5.028 Jun 2023Anonymous EmployeeCurrent Employee, more than 5 yearsCambridge, England
Pros
Medium Sized Company gives opportunities to move roles Good size - big enough to get some big company benefits (healthcare, really good free shares etc) but small enough to still know a lot of people's names Cambridge office is great - nice building, good coffee, great canteen, fresh meal for £4 Opportunity to work with other countries and travel if your role requires it Relaxed culture, dress code etc Good commitment to diversity and people generally encouraged to be themselves Managers are approchable. Most people are friendly Nice labs with windows Good social committees
Cons
It changes a lot and fast. Structures change a lot. Some archaic systems and IT are slow to do anything As the company has grown there are more and more hoops to jump through getting things done and I'm not sure the higher levels appreciate how difficult getting even very simple stuff done (eg ordering and paying for something) is. Can be guilty of trying to put a positive spin on everything which comes across a but false. Very limited parking in which means you have to use the park and ride, though everyone is treated the same. Some restructuring at the moment
6 - 5.03 Jul 2023Finance ManagerCurrent Employee, more than 3 yearsCambridge, England
Pros
Collaborative - I cannot stress this enough. It's honestly a breath of fresh air to work somewhere where there is no red tape and you can speak to anyone at any level. Environment - Nice and modern office, great food (subsidised), coffee and open plan. People - There are so many amazing people here from all walks of life, it's great to be able to work alongside so many professionals and not to feel like you are not equal. Everyone is so helpful across all levels. Progression - An ability to move around across departments is definitely a huge plus. There's an authentic 'skills' based approach where your transferable skills are just as important if not more so than the role your moving to or from. There is always internal movement and lots of the promotions throughout are departments are internal candidates. I love the abcam squiggly career approach.
Cons
Car parking - Not the fault of abcam but when you live 2+ hours away it's frustrating to not be able to park on site - makes a long day even longer. If I lived closer I'd gladly walk.
4 - 2.024 Aug 2023FinanceCurrent Employee, more than 3 yearsCambridge, England
Pros
Some truly wonderful people and a great product. Lovely offices and working environment. Most management are supportive and genuinely care about people and will support you in tour work and career progression.
Cons
A few bad apples in senior positions unfortunately! Career options can be limited by whether your 'face fits'; which means you can work really hard and add plenty of value, but it will go unappreciated and under-valued. It didn't used to be like that but by promoting a few handful of people with narcissistic traits in to leadership roles, the culture is changing and not for the better!
8 - 2.09 Oct 2023Anonymous EmployeeFormer Employee, more than 5 yearsCambridge, England
Pros
On site restaurant, free coffee, nice building, some colleagues. Good cie to work for if you have a "shark mentality". Good benefits.
Cons
Not focused on employees wellbeing. Cold. Not a cie to work for if you are looking for support. Some departments don't have a lot of career advancement opportunities.
2 - 5.026 Oct 2023Anonymous EmployeeCurrent Employee, more than 3 yearsCambridge, England
Pros
Great people, great benefits, great mission.
Cons
Limited parking at the office.
1 - 3.019 Sept 2023Anonymous EmployeeCurrent Employee, more than 3 yearsCambridge, England
Pros
- Now with a great manager seeing some good development opportunities. - Great team and nice people. - Good level of flexible working. - Nice offices.
Cons
- With the proposed acquisition a lot of uncertainty around job security. - Strategic process was somewhat rushed and doesn’t feel as though enough consideration given to continuing as an independent UK business. - Too many system issues and lacks the people with the expertise to resolve them.
3 - 5.013 Sept 2023Vice PresidentCurrent Employee, more than 3 yearsCambridge, England
Pros
The company has put in place all of the strategy described a few years ago. It is so exciting to see the benefits of that work we’ve all been doing. It’s fantastic to see Danaher values that too and the opportunities that combination will bring.
Cons
Activist and founder shareholders have been a major unwanted distraction this year.
2 - 1.011 Jun 2023Anonymous EmployeeFormer EmployeeCambridge, England
Pros
Share scheme, flexible working, free coffee
Cons
In the past year it has gone downhill. Huge staff turnover due to such 'personal reasons' (that's what managent say anyway) as low pay, minimal/no payrise, huge cost cutting, no handovers, hard to get study support, management make zero effort to help employees to solve system/communication problems, IT is shockingly slow and inefficient, HR will try to screw you over your pay, not willing to employ temps when staff leave and unload all tasks on existing team members causing them a lot of stress/anxiety and overworking which leave to more people leaving. Constant staff changes mean there are no people left with knowldge as 'everyone is still getting used to their new roles'. Toxic environment in some teams
9
Abcam Reviews FAQs
Abcam has an overall rating of 3.8 out of 5, based on over 606 reviews left anonymously by employees. 70% of employees would recommend working at Abcam to a friend and 66% have a positive outlook for the business. This rating has decreased by -8% over the last 12 months.
70% of Abcam employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews. Employees also rated Abcam 4.1 out of 5 for work life balance, 4.1 for culture and values and 3.8 for career opportunities.