ICON reviews

3.5

63% would recommend to a friend

(5,268 total reviews)
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Barry Balfe

51% approve of CEO

50% positive business outlook

ICON has an employee rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars, based on 5,268 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The ICON employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

5K reviews
2.0
Sep 14, 2018

Hugely under resourced

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Facility on site is good (gym, canteen and desk space). Flexible start time.

Cons

People are not appreciate, leavers are not replaced therefore always working with shortage of staff, upper management does not not value staff: "Dr Cutler said at the event last week that the company believes using robots can cut costs, giving an example of a document-filing process. "We can file a document in a minute, basically, where a human takes about six minutes. The bot works 24/7, doesn't tend to get sick, doesn't complain, doesn't whine or moan or anything like that." He said the company had reduced costs over the last number of years by 'offshoring' individuals - moving jobs from one country to another." l internal processes are done over ticketing systems and you get passed from one queue to another or one system to another without resolution, extremely disheartening. Internal IT equipment is seriously out of date and in poor condition as well as nearly impossible to get replacements. Constant travel and recruitment holds. Long hours as a result. You also have huge divide within the staff, you are either part of the 5+ years of service or you are nobody. Huge "favoritism" culture and licking up to management. You have to have 3 years of service to get parking on site, otherwise parking is some distance away, which during winter months is less then ideal. While they like to express they live with culture and values, when upper management can't even say hello to staff as they pass by them, what hope is there?

1.0
May 12, 2015

Deeply Concerned Firecrest Employee

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

It is difficult to think of any pros in the current situation. Please read further to see why I believe this.

Cons

I believe the relationship between senior leadership who started in 2014 and Firecrest staff has now irreparably broken down. I believe their incompetent management means a once great company is now in rapid and terminal decline. I believe the culture of dishonesty, lack of integrity, and disrespect for people they have brought are fundamentally at odds with the Firecrest one for all spirit. I believe that the majority of my colleagues feel the same.

3.0
Jul 9, 2015

Now is not the time to join ICON Firecrest

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Work colleagues are great and really make working there worthwhile. There is a subsidized personal trainer (a benefit that has carried over from the original owners and *should* be staying in place) and you are given two 45 minute sessions a week with him during working hours. The holidays are good, you start off on 24 and can work up to 27, and you can carry over a good few also. Taking time off however can be a nightmare....some people haven't been able to and have lost their days. Opportunities to move to Dublin offices if based in Limerick which is a positive for some. They have limited flexitime and working from home options; this is always under review though so cannot be taken for granted.

Cons

The company has handled the takeover very very badly. People on the ground have really suffered and have given up hope at this stage. There is little/no scope for career progression and the pay is VERY poor. It's the kind of place you come for your first job out of college and move on after a year or two; but they dont tell you that until it's too late. There are highly over qualified people in unsuitable roles there. Management are running around like headless chickens at the moment trying to put right all the wrongs of the takeover, but it all feels like too little, too late. A recent development saw them work on career paths and gradings, which was eagerly anticipated....they then handed out insulting and frankly outrageous ratings to staff, people with degrees and masters being told they are BELOW "Professional" level?!! It's madness. When staff spoke up, they were effectively told to put up and shut up.... Management also like to change people's job titles to make them unemployable on the outside....you have to really market yourself to move on from Firecrest. The atmosphere on a day-to-day basis is dreadful; everyone is fed up, underpaid, overworked and feeling really unappreciated. There are huge troughs and peaks in the workload, some teams can see MONTHS go by with little to no work and then all of a sudden be faced with weeks' worth of overtime. Project scheduling is horrendous and deadlines are constantly missed due to under resourcing and bad scheduling. This puts unfair pressure on some key team members and just adds to the sweatshop environment in there. People are leaving in droves (an average of 2 per week at the minute) and are not being replaced in vital teams. Ultimately, I would say to avoid the company for now, give it a chance to pick itself up off of the ground. For me personally I chose to move on and revisit working there in the future should things pick up and they identify qualified, worthy candidates for roles (there is a bit of nepotism going on and unfair hirings). I have hope for Firecrest; management are trying to turn things around, but they have a LONG road ahead. Best to leave them to it and apply in a year or two...if they make it....

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