Pros
One of the biggest pros is flexibility, dependent upon your business unit. Also most of the people you work with are friendly and helpful. Pay is good - as long as you aren't comparing it to other Pharma's. As GSK is a UK company, we do get the week between Christmas and New Year's as shutdown. The appointment of internal candidate, Emma Walmsley as CEO, appears to be a positive step for GSK's future.
Cons
Once an admin - always an admin. There is very little room for growth, and although the company has a lot of development options, it does not trickle down to the support staff. Promises are made that managers will help you find more challenging roles, however they move on before anything happens. The company line is Work/Life Balance, however in the R&D environment many people cannot use their vacation days because of work requirements or external requirements (ex. FDA meetings). Many people lose their vacation days due to this, and no rollover or payout is allowed. As much as we are told we are valued, with the sale of the Oncology Business Unit, everyone has realized that we are only numbers with a dollar amount associated with our head. That is not how you value an employee.