chemist

production technician

project leader

analytical chemist

technician

Apotex

I challenge the veracity of the overall employee score of 3.9/5… If I could I would give the company 0/5. 
Let me very clear. This company treats some of its employees in the most disgraceful and completely unprofessional manner. Their main policy appears to be: hire/fire/rehire, rinse and repeat. The practices of nepotism/cronyism/favoritism are rife among the people responsible for hiring and promoting individuals. In addition, there is an obvious trend over time of mysteriously laying off experienced workers who have worked their way up the pay scales, and then replacing them with younger, less experienced, less qualified and cheaper workers. 
The bosses at the level of Director and above appear on the surface to have little knowledge or control over the way that people at the supervisory and managerial level treat their staff. Over many years I had the misfortune to witness people being bullied relentlessly by people above them, all in the name of ‘efficiency’, and also, to meet deadlines and targets that became tighter and tighter overtime. Bosses appear to be obsessed with detailed metrics. Any form of complaint about any of this is openly met with hostility, aggression, and implied or actual threats of punitive action. If you try to get HR involved you are usually met with suspicion and disbelief. Needless to say, the company appears to have a high turn over of staff at all levels.
In my experience working there, bosses at all levels from supervisor upwards to not appear to be interested in employees having any kind of reasonable work/life balance.
Also, people thinking of applying to work at the company should be made aware that the company is slowly selling off parts of the organization. It is possible that in time the main manufacturing sites could be sold off to other companies.
So, if you are reading this review because you are seriously considering applying for a job at the company, then at least please do some in-depth research about the company. If you really want to work there, then my best advice is this; take the job, work hard to gain as much experience as possible, and then after a few years leave to work for another company.

People are great to work with . Everyone is very nice and supportive , work can be challenging but the maintenance crew works well together to support one another . 
Vacation is very relaxed which is the best part about this job . I have a child so calling in or taking time off isn't an issue given you have the vacation days to use . 

Upper Management is horrendous.  They do not listen to the employees despite bringing up the same concerns every townhall meeting . 
I've mentioned countless times that Maintenance is on the verge of collapse , all the good guys have left and what they are hiring is an embarrassment to the trade . They do not screen new tradesman that are unable to perform the most simple tasks and rely on the apprentice to teach them everything. We are forced to train them not only on the work equipment but in basic Mechanics, I'm not sure how they are licensed but it's a disgrace!
 New Mechanics are also hired at a higher rate making some of us feel like our efforts don't matter . 
Ever since Apotex ownership was taken over by SK capital , the place has been falling apart. They are extremely cheap! Cuts to overtime, salary is low for a multi bullion dollar company. Our Christmas breakfast was 2 tiny cupcakes and a 2 inch pancake with no syrup.  

Apotex provided me with opportunities to learn and showcase my skills. I was able to support both the Laboratory and Production departments in separate roles. A typical day consists of setting expectations, keeping the team motivated, removing any obstacles, and empowering your direct reports  to reach the expected targets while always keeping safety and quality in mind. I was able to learn from my Superiors while still maintaining my attributes and values at the core. The workplace culture is admirable and it starts with Management leading by example. Sometimes it is difficult to attend to all tasks as they need to be prioritized in a fast paced environment where unexpected challenges arise.  Another key is to develop working relationships with supporting departments as it takes everyone's effort to reach our lofty milestones. I truly enjoyed cultivating relationships with my direct reports as well as my peers and upper management as it takes an entire team pulling in the same direction to experience personal, departmental, and company success. 

At first this appeared as a very competently managed and exciting company to work for, but after some amount of time - you will grow tired of facing the same problems over and over again as management has no competency to resolve anything. Yes, there is great training, and exposure to a number of different business and quality mechanisms - and there certainly is room to advance into different roles, but this is because of the very high turnover rate of employees caused by a number of factors - i.e. poor wages for those not willing to work overtime (you can see I gave the salary and work life balance rating two stars as the policy is only words on paper), and as you climb the ladder into different positions you will become more aware of a culture that does not support the work life balance policy of the company. Production technicians are expected to use their personal computers from home to answer and send work related emails, or to use their lunch or other breaks for this activity on computers that do not allow privacy, and supervisors are assigned laptops and cellphones and it is implied that you are to be on-call at all times without compensation.

4 months - in Customer Support - took calls, reset passwords, processed ed email requests, Created work tickets and redirected them to correct IT department.remotely controlled and installed applicatons.

6 months - in Staging lab - prepared new / replacement / upgrade desktops and laptops by staging (installing) Windows 2000, XP, Vista and Windows 7, then manually adding applications that were not part of the automatic process depending on the department and special apps required. Also performed as backup to the IS Customer Service Centre - which would handle walk-in traffic for loaners, Blackberrys, replacement keyboard and mice. Work would be performed right at the service counter. Installed missing applications if the rollouts of replacment PC's and laptops missed installing them. Handled VPN, wireless, and dial-up issues with laptops. Issued new SecurID cards for VPN when they expired.

Also, at times, was asked to perform Desktop Support / repairs. The work sometimes involved being at the customer's desk.

The work at this company is very repetitive, you must work really, really, really fast, it's an extremely fast paced environment cause it's all about the numbers, as in how much can be produced by the hour, by the day, by the week, month, etc. 
If you speak up against any wrong doers including from coworkers, team leads, supervisors, coordinators, managers, you are seen as wrong even if you have valid facts and proof.
With this job being repetitive in the production areas, you are prone to aliments that can become long term cause of the how much you must push your body to work in such a fast paced environment.
I caution anyone looking to seek employment in the production areas that think twice if applying to such work load, this is very much a labor intense job and accuracy in a must when filling out documentation which is part of all jobs across the board.
I recommend you think long and hard regarding a decision about working at this company.

Desktop Support - supporting the end user at their desks - installed printers, helped with Microsoft Office issues. Supported configuration issues and repaired / replaced laptops and Desktop PCs

Staging lab technician - prepared new / replacement / upgrade desktops and laptops by staging (installing) Windows 2000, XP, Vista and Windows 7, then manually adding applications that were not part of the automatic process depending on the department and special apps required. Also performed as backup to the IS Customer Service Centre - which would handle walk-in traffic for loaners, Blackberrys, replacement keyboard and mice. Work would be performed right at the service counter. Installed missing applications if the rollouts of replacment PC's and laptops missed installing them. Handled VPN, wireless, and dial-up issues with laptops.

This company merged with its sister companies which caused some layoffs in the I.T. department or all companies that merged because each sister company already had their I.T. own teams.
It was a great place to work,  I was a team leader, I worked in a lab that was a warehouse until I designed it to be a lab and they hired people to convert it into a lab as per design.  I had a technical team.  We tested and repaired hardware (computers( that weren't under warranty, Tested new software.  standardized so all computers and laptops ( over 4000) had the same operating system as they were all different when I got there.  troubleshoot problems and repairing issues for user (customer) satisfaction was met.  This was also done for the sales reps we had all over Canada.  If they had a problem with their laptop we would ship them a spare from inventory and when theirs arrived we would fix it and test it then ship back to them.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The company used to be great in the past but not anymore.
Salary and benefits are good

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Horrible new owners, they care about short term gains only.
They treat people with no respect or dignity.
Whatever your contribution is, the most important thing is what is the saving they can make if they make you leave. 
They allow too much politics, bad gossips and rumors, anyone can say bad things about others and the leaders have open ears to allow this to happen without making sure of the truth about it.
The leadership of the company is very aggressive and unrealistic.
No work life balance after the company was acquired by an American private equity company. 


What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
So bad and too much politics lately 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Ver busy schedule and too may meetings

Apotex provides a challenging role in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Individuals who are self starters, dedicated and are highly motivated will thrive in this environment.

The recent transformation project, Transcend, has given the opportunity for the department teams to really flex their muscles, challenge the status quo and transform the business into one focused on increasing capacity and reducing costs.

Every day is faced with new challenges, especially in the manufacturing sector, and with a strong culture of continuous improvement there is always something new to learn and contribute to.

The most enjoyable part of the job is leading the phenomenal people that make up the operations teams at Apotex. Many of them have long tenures and are dedicated and focused in producing quality pharmaceuticals for our patients.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Chemist 7 salaries reported	$54,812 per year
Production technician 3 salaries reported	$45,887 per year
Project leader 7 salaries reported	$85,547 per year
Analytical chemist 3 salaries reported	$50,439 per year
Technician 7 salaries reported	$44,329 per year

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