On Demand Pharmaceuticals is a truly terrible company to work for, with extremely poor financial prospects! If you are looking for a stable, happy, and long term job, this is absolutely not it!!
All of ODP’s problems come from bad management, and the management there is the worst I’ve ever seen! The company is extremely top heavy, though many in management (executive suite, VPs, and Directors/Assoc. Directors) have little or no actual experience managing people, projects, or timelines. It seemed like many managers came straight from academia or graduate/post graduate education, and haven’t worked in professional settings. The executives don’t seem to know how to run the company in the short or long term, and the company has gone through a mass layoff and several direction changes in a short time. Management likes to constantly operate on a sprint timeline, goals are always changing or unclear, and decisions seem to be made rashly and with poor understanding of the work they are attempting to do. They can also seem arrogant and don’t listen to or respond well to feedback or criticism. When things go wrong, it always felt like management would blame the workers beneath them, and not learn anything about how to prevent future failings. Working at ODP is extremely stressful, often because of the management!
The company culture, specifically on the R&D and Engineering teams, is absolutely toxic! There are so many people that are absolutely miserable there! This workplace does not feel like a safe place for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ people- there are people on staff who have described experiencing various forms of racism, sexism, or homophobia, both from individuals in management and in company policies and practices! The environment is extremely cliquey, there are many people who are close personal friends with their managers, and promotions, raises, and bonuses seem to be reserved for just the people who are in the right friend group. Some people have done years of great work and have never received a promotion, while other people have had several promotions in the same time frame for the same workload! The managers can be very nasty to their employees who are not in their clique! There is a lot of lying, gaslighting, and outright bullying that happens, and the people who suffer most have no ability to prevent or report it! Even worst, the leadership of these teams are aware there is a toxic culture, they just don’t seem to care or want to change it!
