What's going on with all the open Territory Manager Positions in Surgical?

I went on the Hologic job opportunities and I couldn't believe how many territories are open in GYN Surgical. I'm being told that there there are no expansions. Are there really this many people leaving the company?
I heard the average rep is only making $100k. I heard it used to be such a desirable position and now it appears to be an entry level job. What happened?

 

What do you expect when your base salary is Cut Down to $30k and your paid on dollar one on a declining procedure in a saturated market. People leave and the company is left hiring kids out of college.

 

Hologic surgical is without a doubt the WORST sales job in medical devices. People are quitting left and right, and not just “bad reps” either. The long tenured reps are leaving too. Anyone with half a brain sees the writing on the wall at this place. Just about anyone who is left here is either guzzling the kool aid or desperately looking. 30k salary is laughable and constantly fearing if you’ll have a job is always fun too. The worst corporate culture I’ve ever seen in my career. Leaving hologic is the single best decision I’ve ever made. This company is a complete joke, zero new products, no innovation and expectations of ridiculous quotas on a 15 year old product in a declining market. And you wonder why there’s open spots EVERYWHERE. They’re hiring kids with zero device experience who are happy to make 70k a year. You need to have your head examined if you ever consider working for this place.

 

Exactly what he said ☝️Spot on!

 

You said it! An absolutely pathetic division in a pathetic company. What does it say about an organization who’s attrition rate is over 50%.

 

Lol. Thank you

 

On the earnings call, Steve said in the last 9 months of the GYN business they replaced:

• President
• VP Sales
• 3 of the 4 regional leaders
• Over 50% of sales managers

Wow. Not an employee and watching/listening from afar. That is staggering.

 

And he thought this was a good thing....... said no long term successful business owner

 

Trust me I still have quite a few friends who still work for this rotten company. Every single one of them is either aggressively trying to get the hell out or listening to any offers that might allow them to seek employment elsewhere. They’re all miserable and hate the culture. I can’t fathom working for this place. I actually feel really sorry for anyone who does.

 

As one of the people mentioned below that has moved on - it's an absolute travesty. This division saw 30% growth in FY15, FY16 and FY17 combined and is now in the gutter thanks to the leadership of ex-jocks who have no idea what they are doing. I can say that with confidence because none of them have held a position in leadership for more than 2 years and firmly believe consultative selling and hiring proven talent is a BIG waste of time. This is evident by the number of entry level reps they are hiring now, the majority of which have sports backgrounds. I am not anti-athle, but we aren't selling to orthopods and sports med docs. GYNs are sensitive people by nature and appreciate dealing with and building trust with reps who take the time to understand their world. Anyway, it's just sad to see this division falter after saving it from Carl Ichan's clutches. You messed up Steve...but at least you got your $30mm in guaranteed RSUs, right pal?! WINNING!!

 

You’re an idiot for referencing all the great growth from prior years when it was easily driven by a competitor dropping out of the market. Implying it was fully the reps at that time is laughable. Not that they weren’t great or better than who we have today. Surgical is the smallest division in the company...need to stop making it bigger than what it actually is.

 

Minus the "idiot" comment I tend to agree with your post. I liked the old leadership (TO'N, WP, BF running marketing) so I liked seeing them get some good fortune. But that doesn't change the fact that market share increase was largely driven by the competitor dropping out (it was acknowledged by SM on many earnings calls although he tried to make it sound like the team was doing extraordinary things to capitalize on the opportunity- maybe they were).

I've said multiple times all across this board that surgical is the smallest division (outside of bone density but that really rolls into breast health) - but I'll add to your statement "stop making it bigger than what it actually is" by saying the challenges you see in surgical are happening across the entire company in every division. I'll never forget about 3 years ago I was sitting with someone who is now a very senior leader for the company as we turned over a ton of reps in a certain division. I asked what the turnover rate was over the last 6 months. Their response... "We aren't there yet, but we're getting closer to a very healthy turnover rate. It has been unhealthy for years." Translation: out with the old, in with the new; if you don't like where we're headed, we don't want you here. I sat in countless meetings where consultants were saying relationships matter less in today's environment. The new model is very different and well-documented here. HOLX is banking on more consolidation in the hospital market making disposable/consumable device reps a less important cog in the machine. Contracts are becoming more important and therefore the tip of the spear is the national accounts team followed by a strong clinical support team at the local level. The rep is becoming the middle man and is being treated as such. You'll likely see more changes to the sales team structure in the upcoming fiscal across multiple divisions. HOLX is positioning for their vision of the future. The only way out of this situation may be going to a smaller company- something tells me all of the big boys are heading in a similar direction.

 

Paragraph 2 is spot on. This person knows what they’re talking about.

 

Hang on there fella. Yes surgical is the smallest, but it’s the most profitable, so what happens here matters. Hologic is not getting rid of reps. Hologic is adding reps. They’re doing so through territory splits. They’re not adding clinical heads either, they’re adding sales heads. They’re not devaluing the “rep” as a concept, but they are creating a machine with more rep coverage, but less rep quality, as a territory split necessitates a commission split. You are right that the contracts and IDN amalgamation will insulate the business, which means the rep doesn’t need to be as good, but they do need to have a heartbeat. That means that although they used to bring reps in at near 200K, now they’re bringing them in at 90K. This means every rep is easily replaced by a B2B rookie at any time, with little delay in business coverage, and no additional commission payout. Doctors will learn to curb their expectations of what a Hologic rep looks and sounds like.

It’s more how they’re doing it that is freaking people out, and several other things are nuts over here. Hologic is firing the surgical managers as fast as they can, and replacing them with Stryker managers, as they work to create this new machine. The Stryker managers are everything you think they are. Those new managers fire their tenured reps, instead of letting them go in a dignified way on their own. So even the new kids that come in under the new regime are freaking out about all the madness and record setting attrition. Aside from that, the very few people they are trying to keep are trying their best to get out as well.

So it’s a total goat rodeo, but it suits the narrative that CEO McMillan gave the investors about how surgical was down because of bad leaders, even though in the same discussion he admitted the ablation market was trending down. Then he said that the fibroid meds coming into the market would only treat type 5 and 6 fibroids, so congrats Steve on the scientific discovery of type 5 and 6 fibroids... we digress.

So- if you are entry level in surgical sales, or looking to get your first surgical role, grind it out here for a bit. Hologic has one recruiter that even tells you what to say in the interview! You won’t love the culture, your manager will be new and won’t know how to coach you, but you will get in, even if you’ve been working at enterprise rent a car, and can then prepare to go to a better company after you’ve got a year or two under your belt. By then, Hologic will have a reputation as a “feeder” company for good TM jobs in surgical, and other companies won’t even wonder why you’re leaving.

Come on over!!

 

"Most profitable" - clearly you are speaking on this as a percentage- which is fine and probably accurate, but you're still the smallest division from an actual profit contribution. If you have 55% margin and breast has 40% margin, you're a more profitable division percentage-wise but you have way less revenue, so the actual profit revenue for any other division in the company is still higher than yours.

I'd argue they are devaluing the rep - look at how your pay has changed. Look at how the profile of a rep has changed (background of who they're hiring). Doesn't appear they think the rep is nearly as valuable anymore.

 

I'm referencing #15.

OMG!!! Are smoking a crack pipe? Is this Sean? Is this Essex? Better yet is this Steve?
What planet are you people on? You have turned the products and the division into a commodity sale.
There are no more consultants left at Hologic only used car sales "people". Can you say Cardinal Health?How much is that 4X4? That's surgical talk for the inexperienced used car sales representatives in the audience. Anyone with a fifth grade education can sell based on price.

What's the current stock price? Hey Einstein, when there is over 50% attrition in one division it's NOT a good thing. It's called suicide.

 

Methinks #17 doth not like objectivity or sarcasm

 

Right, but I'm sure he'd rather be back at Stryker getting in-flight BJs.

 

how many left or quit this week?