1/ Time for another story...
This one is actually a bunch of related stuff about a job I had over a decade ago.
Now, many of my mutuals know, but before I made a *radical* change in vocation a couple of years ago, I spent the better part of two decades in biotech/biopharma
This one is actually a bunch of related stuff about a job I had over a decade ago.
Now, many of my mutuals know, but before I made a *radical* change in vocation a couple of years ago, I spent the better part of two decades in biotech/biopharma
2/ Over the course of that time, I worked for several different companies, some pretty good and others not so much. This story today is about one of the latter.
So anywise, I came to the company in question because my previous employer...
So anywise, I came to the company in question because my previous employer...
3/ ...where I'd been a scientist doing scale up R&D for protein purification relating to vaccine components, was bought out by [Big evil pharma company that everybody is now aware of from the past 2.5 years].
They kept telling everyone they were leaving our facility open...
They kept telling everyone they were leaving our facility open...
4/ ...right up until they closed it, of course (hint: vaxxes aren't the only thing they lie about).
I found a position at New Company as their analytical laboratory manager through a contact in my network who worked there but was moving some place on the west coast.
I found a position at New Company as their analytical laboratory manager through a contact in my network who worked there but was moving some place on the west coast.
5/ Now, the company in question was pretty small - total of around 20 employees - so "analytical laboratory manager" isn't really that impressive since I *was* the analytical lab (though I'd have had reports if it expanded).
6/ The company mostly did boutique organic synthesis for specialised clients and that was where the bulk of their work lay. The analytical side was something that they were (halfheartedly, as it turns out) trying to break into.
7/ Anywise, the co-owners of the company were these two guys from India, and they *very much* tried to run the company like they were still in India.
Meaning that they basically followed as few regs as possible and were EXTREMELY cheap about EVERYTHING
Meaning that they basically followed as few regs as possible and were EXTREMELY cheap about EVERYTHING
8/ For instance, it was like pulling teeth to try to get these guys to approve even standard requisitions for supplies for the analytical lab, I mean basic stuff like replacement glassware, HPLC columns specific to client projects, rubber gloves, standard solvents, etc.
9/ "What do you need so much acetonitrile for??"
Because the client supplied method and the number of samples they always send means we need X litres to be able to do this run. No ACN, no run, no payment.
The last usually finally got them to approve purchase orders.
Because the client supplied method and the number of samples they always send means we need X litres to be able to do this run. No ACN, no run, no payment.
The last usually finally got them to approve purchase orders.
10/ And then there was these guys' idea of what "waste disposal" mean. I had to argue with them that we can't just pour stuff like ACN or MEK down the drain but need a waste drum. That was like the first battle I had two days after coming in.
11/ I hope they weren't just pouring this stuff into the public sewer system before I came, but *suspect* they probably were.
And then there was their idea for how to safely dispose of solvent bottles.
And then there was their idea for how to safely dispose of solvent bottles.
12/ Most companies will either contract to have them collected and removed, or else will have an on-site compactor that smashes and "bales" the glass for removal.
These guys didn't do either, didn't *want* to do either - too expensive.
These guys didn't do either, didn't *want* to do either - too expensive.
13/ So their idea was for me to put the big brown glass bottles in a trash bag and smash them with a mallet, and then throw the glass in regular trash.
I'd smash them up, but wouldn't put them in the trash (illegal), so they'd have one of the other Indian guys working there...
I'd smash them up, but wouldn't put them in the trash (illegal), so they'd have one of the other Indian guys working there...
14/ ...on a visa take it out and throw it in a dumpster after hours after I left for the day.
That brings me to another area of cheapness - most of the people working for this company were Indian immigrants working on some kind of visa that these guys basically held onto
That brings me to another area of cheapness - most of the people working for this company were Indian immigrants working on some kind of visa that these guys basically held onto
15/ They would hold the threat of deportation over these folks to get them to work for peanuts and do anything they asked.
Seriously, you had Ph.D. organic chemists living two or three families to an apartment because they weren't paid enough to each have their own places
Seriously, you had Ph.D. organic chemists living two or three families to an apartment because they weren't paid enough to each have their own places
16/ But they wouldn't complain because they wouldn't want their visa revoked or whatever (I'm not an immigration law attorney).
The cheapness also manifested itself in their approach to IT, which was basically to have some guy they knew come out once a year...
The cheapness also manifested itself in their approach to IT, which was basically to have some guy they knew come out once a year...
17/ ...and install an update to some cheap anti-virus program.
But none of it ever worked, and they had no firewalls, no truly functioning anti-virus, no website tracking/blocking or anything.
Every computer there was on a single network.
But none of it ever worked, and they had no firewalls, no truly functioning anti-virus, no website tracking/blocking or anything.
Every computer there was on a single network.
18/ Problem was, most of the Indian dudes there seemed to have been porn addicts or something and were always looking that junk up on the organic lab computers, downloading all kinds of viruses and malware in addition to their entertainment.
19/ I mean, at least once a day I'd get some popup for some site advertising bobs and vagene that would appear while I was trying to workup HPLC data or whatever. Our business development manager, a British guy whose desk was in the analytical lab, had the same problem.
20/ I'm just glad it never happened when a client was making an audit visit or anything.
On and on this stuff would go. Thankfully I was only there for a year before finding something MUCH better that I stayed at for 9 years until my radical vocational change took place.
On and on this stuff would go. Thankfully I was only there for a year before finding something MUCH better that I stayed at for 9 years until my radical vocational change took place.
21/ I left because they decided to close the analytical lab down and put the money into adding a cGMP organic synthesis suite. Trust me, I was not put out about it at all.
Later, I anonymously reported them to the state, mainly about the labour and waste disposal stuff...
Later, I anonymously reported them to the state, mainly about the labour and waste disposal stuff...
22/ but I don't know if anything was ever really done about these.
But wow, was that ever an insight into how things much work in India on a regular basis
No matter how bad your job working for an American company may be, it could be worse.
FINIS
But wow, was that ever an insight into how things much work in India on a regular basis
No matter how bad your job working for an American company may be, it could be worse.
FINIS
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