Evotec Reviews

2.7

36% would recommend to a friend

(322 total reviews)
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Christian Wojczewski

13% approve of CEO

7% positive business outlook

Evotec has an employee rating of 2.7 out of 5 stars, based on 322 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The Evotec employee rating is 23% below average for employers within the Pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

322 reviews
2.0
20 May 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Some really good, hard working, smart people. Potential to learn a lot of skills very quickly. One of the most mixed and diverse places I've ever worked.

Cons

Those people get crushed in the chaos. You learn those skills by being thrown in at the deep end, and there isn't usually a lifeguard. Minimal commitment to training - everything is done on the job by the people doing the job, which should be good for the trainee, but everything is under intense time pressure, so having to train people on top of the job leads to mistakes. Plus a lack of appreciation that lending "an extra pair of hands" only works if those hands are trained - if you have to train them as well, the job will done slower, not faster, and the quality will be lower. Lack of communication at all levels - projects are taken on without checking whether the technology or the skills to do them are in the company first - leading people to be landed with near-impossible tasks. People are taken on to work in one team, and then find themselves in another - conversely teams who are stretched (that's all of them) are told they will be getting a new member, only to find that the new person starts in another team. There's no appreciation of how destructive this is to staff morale. It creates a corrosive atmosphere, and utter distrust of management. Total lack of transparency - change happens on a "We've decided this" basis - staff, especially at Scientist level, are treated like mushrooms - kept in the dark and occasionally fed bull****. Those two points in particular are why the staff turnover at Scientist level is so fast. You can add to that no understanding between levels of the processes involved - eg requesting half a days extra work on the morning of the prep - creating unrealistic demands on those at the brown end of the stick. Regular equipment failures, contaminations, etc as there is never downtime for care, maintenance, cleaning. Each failure, and there's plenty of them, makes timelines tighter and leads to more stress. Opaque promotion process - seems to be based on "if we don't promote them they'll leave" rather than merit. This also leads to team leaders who don't understand what needs to happen in the team outside of their own speciality, leading to unreasonable demands, often for things that have been already been promised to a client without understanding what needs to be done first. Gossip and backbiting in the StrucBio section's management. Pay not worth the night-sweats that earning it leads to. It's hard to have a work-life balance when you have to be militant every day to stop them working you hours beyond your allotted time, and when you can't sleep for stress. This should be a good place to work. There's amazing people from all manner of backgrounds, and the opportunity to work on cutting-edge projects, but they just get sucked into the Charybdis of chaos that the shambolic management produces.

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Evotec Response
4y
We really appreciate you taking time out to post a review. We welcome all feedback as it helps us to learn and make changes where needed. If you have anything further you would like to discuss please contact our HR department. Thank you.
1.0
13 Sept 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Nice, helpful colleagues to work with but that's about it.

Cons

- Interview only lasted 45 minutes, no real insights were given (tour of the lab, meeting with other staff etc) - Out of date technology (Lab equipment, IT-infrastructure etc.). - No lab management system in place; messy labs, no culture of clean work-spaces (although lots of work with active pharmaceutical ingredients!), dirty and old lab equipment. - Wage on the lower end of the scale (so are the benefits). - Absent management structure (It took my line-manager more than 3 months to arrange an initial meeting with me when I started; I had no help or introduction from the management side). - Management only cares about progress of the projects, no interest in individuals. No acknowledgment of your work e.g. no overtime is offered, no words of encouragement, no insights from management until the deadline looms. - Poor team culture; often a feeling of working on your own. - No exchange of chemical knowledge whatsoever (e.g. chemical problem sessions, presentations etc.). - No sick-pay offered once notice is handed in (notice period of 3 months!) - All lab staff was required to come in during Covid look down. Social distance measurement were in place in the offices but not really in the lab. Little flexibility from management (e.g. no shift work was offered to lab workers to maintain social distancing).

avatar
Evotec Response
4y
We really appreciate you taking time out to post a review. We welcome all feedback as it helps us to learn and make changes where needed. If you have anything further you would like to discuss please contact our HR department. Thank you.
2.0
12 Apr 2018

Senior Scientist 1

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Nice environment and people, good scientific level

Cons

Management doesn't invest in people, especially those who prefer a career path in science (what a surprise since it is a science company). Salaries are poor, but if you love science prepare for an ascetic life in one of the most expensive areas of the country

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Glassdoor has 473 Evotec reviews submitted anonymously by Evotec employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Evotec is right for you.