Vantaggi
Benefits are good, and salaries are usually above the industry average. On-campus amenities are excellent, with a nice cafeteria, a full gym with fitness classes, and a new faux-Starbucks.
Svantaggi
High staff turnover compared to the pre-Novartis days. All departments, with the exception of sales, are understaffed and underfunded. Managers are territorial and don't like to work across functions (which led to a massive missed opportunity when the FDA rejected a submission because all of the sections were written separately and did not agree with each other). This is often due to differences in the corporate culture wars between the legacy Alcon folks ("next promotion goes to whoever's been here the longest, regardless of competency") and the newer Novartis hires ("next promotion goes to whoever I like the best, regardless of competency"). The company pipeline has dried up, due to risk-averse management in R&D, and profits have been falling. 2014 R&D goals were literally halved at mid-year so that they could say they were met come year's end. The corporate response has been to increase the sales force, a shortsighted strategy at best. Also, would you like some on the job training? There is none. The internal website has a page trumpeting the company's commitment to training and employee advancement. There's a link to take you to the training opportunities, and it takes you to a nearly blank page.