technical support specialist

research scientist

technicien d'analyse en biologie médicale

research assistant

senior research scientist

Applied Biological Materials Inc.

This company is with holding pay from me based on false allegations of incompetency based on failure to produce revenue... I was a research technician, so my job never involved revenue! Incompetency isn't even a legal reason to withhold pay, even if the allegations were true. Furthermore, when I notified them that I would be complaining to the labour board, they proceeded to withhold additional pay and my Record of Employment, which they know I need to apply for Employment Insurance.

They then sent me a defamatory email which I find quite threatening and proceeded to send this email to 4 of my colleagues who have no involvement in the matter whatsoever. I ask myself what their intention is for doing so?

When I finally did receive an ROE in the mail, after I filed a complaint with the government, the ROE I received is for an employer I never worked for. The ROE states the incorrect insurable earnings, incorrect period of time I worked there and of course the wrong employer. My EI is now backlogged due to their failure to provide me with a correct ROE.

They have clearly disclosed my SIN number and personal information to a third party without my consent. And it looks like they are trying to claim I never worked for them but for this other company.

When I did work there, management consistently humiliated staff by pointing out their flaws in staff meetings and yelled at (raised voices and angry tones) employees with office doors open so that other employees could hear.

On one occasion I was yelled at for doing what I was told to do. When I pointed out that I was doing exactly what I was specifically told, I was told it was my fault anyways.

I find this workplace to be hostile, toxic and unprofessional.

I worked with the company as a co-op student and was able to get amazing training from my supervisor and co-workers and after that I was able to work independently with my own projects to benefit the company. In a fast-paced biotech industry, work can get busy but managing time appropriately helps to stay organized in this awesome environment. If there is problem solving involved, that may be the most difficult part of the position but plentiful resources are there to assist you, from co-workers and supervisors to on-line information. There have been co-op students that were able to obtain permanent/long-term positions with the company and the company also does its best to hire knowledgeable and skilled employees that fit as part of the team. 

Overall, when you show that you are trying your best and have a caring attitude toward your work everyone will be impressed and that is what is expected in a constantly changing biotech industry, you will learn about new technologies or research based tools and that is what I really enjoyed about my position (I was able to present on technologies that would benefit the company). ABM Inc. was rated as one of the fastest growing local companies in BC and that is due to the outstanding individuals that put constant effort into their work to be able to be a leader in the industry. I loved my time with the company and the team (should I not have moved on to a professional graduate program, I would have tried to stay with ABM Inc.).

I kid you not, the management eliminated three out of four sick days immediately prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. Yes that's correct - you were allowed to be sick for one day of the calendar year.

Other Cons:
- Constant public ridicule and derision of employees at company-wide meetings. This includes openly sharing employee salary information, threatening demotions or SALARY CUTS (is this legal?) for things like forgetting to turn a monitor off or overusing the printer, and general pitting of employees and departments against each other
- General culture of shame, guilt and authoritative orders to achieve unrealistic annual goals (real example: 5x increase of output with 1/2 reduced team), promoting high turnover rates and not much else
- Management replaces PhDs with BScs (or fails to hire new staff entirely) for high-level technical work, are then surprised when quality/quantity of output decreases. Their solution is to force these BScs to consult past employees who assist out of guilt but are not compensated by any means. 
- Must work exactly 9-5 (AKA you must use one of your ten full vacation days for a dentist appointment rather than leaving at 4:30 and coming in earlier to compensate like every office-based job at other companies)

Pros:
- The company hires pushovers that freely volunteer their time to work overtime/on weekends without getting paid.  Pushovers are generally nice people to work with.

I had a challenging experience at this organization due to a significant mismatch between the role described during the hiring process and the responsibilities assigned after joining. On my first day, I was given duties that were substantially different—and aligned with a higher pay grade—than those outlined in my interview and offer letter.

Over time, additional responsibilities were added, particularly after my probation period, without sufficient onboarding, training, or structured support. This made it difficult to meet expectations effectively.

I also experienced a highly micromanaged work environment, which at times felt discouraging and impacted productivity and morale. In my experience, there was limited recognition of employee workload, time, and contributions, and turnover appeared to be relatively high.

I would encourage the organization to improve transparency during hiring, ensure alignment between job descriptions and actual responsibilities, and invest more in onboarding and employee support.

Additionally, from my perspective, there were inconsistencies in laboratory practices and resource allocation that could benefit from stronger adherence to standard protocols and quality processes.

This job was taken via a Co-operative education program at SFU. I extremely enjoyed my 8 month stay at ABM, it was a fun and enjoyable experience. The workers there are amazing and quite knowledgeable. This is a fast paced job, but if you need help there is always someone there to work with in case you need it. 

The hardest part of this job is the fast-paced environment. Workers here all have strong time management skills and the ability to multi-task, but if you have these skills you will have a fun time working at ABM.

As a lab technician, I would start the day doing minipreps for the day (sometimes midi/maxipreps) as well as some individual cloning jobs from other companies. I would then work on completing the minipreps, problem solving if the cloning jobs don't go as planned, and ligations/transformations. In my spare time (if you get any!) I would help with making gels for gel electrophoresis and general clean up for the lab.

I was working in ABM as a co-op student. That is my first co-op work term and I am very appreciated that my first lab related experience is with ABM! ABM is not a big company but I think that is very good for co-op students to learn new technique as a detailed training will be provided. ABM does provide a great, safe, and fun workplace to its emplyee and co-op students. Supervisors are very patient to teach you and give you advice. The most important thing is, there is no pressure to work in ABM! Sometimes there will be a lot of samples to be processed. Handling multiple tasks at a time could be the hardest part of the job. However, the co-workers are very nice. When they have time they always give you a hand. ABM also have monthly lunch and Halloween dessert party!! I am very enjoy the time in ABM. Really want to work as a full time employee after I graduate.

I have worked for several companies and this one is by far the most supportive, and caring company I have been involved with. They are always making sure we know we are appreciated and we get great gifts! Last year we went on a company camping trip and it was completely paid for. We also get breakfast twice a month. 
Besides the friendly atmosphere, the people that work here are brilliant and are very willing to share their knowledge and help in any way they can. It is definitely a team environment. Everyone works very hard and cares about what they do. 
There are many opportunities to advance in this company as we are constantly growing, which makes it a fantastic place to develop a career. They are very open to suggestions, and support ideas in any area.

The company is a great environment to both learn and make contributions to the team.   The work you do here is highly valued and you can see the immediate impact your projects have on the scientific community, whether it be from new research or from the new products that you help develop.  The working environment is very nurturing and there is plenty of room for you to grow and advance your career, if you are motivated and work hard for it.  There is a big emphasis on teamwork and coordination, so the work culture and the people in the company are some of the biggest positives of working at this company.

I started by volunteering at this place and then got an intern position. I am really happy that I found this place because I had no co-op or lab work experience before. They gave me this opportunity to learn. It is a great place to start with if you are interested in biotech company. The supervisors there are all very nice and helpful. They are very patient whenever you have questions or did something wrong in the lab. I really gained a lot of practical skills. Also, you would be able to learn how to multi task and manage your time so that you can get things done on time. I really enjoy my time in this company.

The work you do at abm is okay. It gives you essential lab skills and the experience you need to progress further into your career.  The CEO has unrealistic expectations and is extremely rude and condescending. Talks down upon you as if you incompetent at everything. Further insults you that a high schooler can do this and that you can't. Talks badly about previous employees and say why they were weighing down the company. Says his time is wasted and that training was useless. Is unprofessional in the way he talks by treating you like you are garbage. 

Don't bother working here. Working at a minimum wage job is better than the bs you take here.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
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Senior research scientist 2 salaries reported	$125,000 per year

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