So how many of you are there?

[Anonymous]

I work in Alcon IT, and the rumor mill is saying almost all IT work at Novartis is outsourced. There is nowhere else to work around Fort Worth that pays as well as Alcon, and we are all worried that if we get kicked to the curb by our new management, it will result in significant downgrades in our quality of life. If you guys do keep some IT in-house, what skills would give us the best shot at hanging around after the merger--networking, programming, DBA, etc.? Any information you guys could provide would be appreciated.

 

[Anonymous]

Good luck ! All IT work in East Hanover is being outsourced to Wipro, InfoSys & Cognizant.

 

[Anonymous]

There is no protection. Sharpen the saw and be ready to job hunt.

 

[Anonymous]

Confirming that almost everything IT wise in EH is veing outsourced. They are some systems still in house but they will move soon. 22 people in IT lost thier jobs this week. We are down to 95 associates in IT, down from a high point of 185 a few years back. Getting my resume ready !!

 

[Anonymous]

Add 5 more to that casualty list. There is an IT group in Novartis called SISNet (don't ask me what it means) that is now a global organization. So my manager is somewhere in Basel, the people who do the work for me are in India. I used to work with people here in East Hanover - now no more. We are told only to manage and leave the hands on work to Infosys - there goes my skillset, or whatever is left. 2010 saw 4 people let go from SISNet and one just got let go last week and another one is leaving the group. Bad times ahead.

 

[Anonymous]

Alcon guy: you'll get really good at PowerPoint. It's the primary technology tool in Novartis IT. Do yourself a favor and follow the advice given above - sharpen the saw.

 

[Anonymous]

Alcon guy: you'll get really good at PowerPoint. It's the primary technology tool in Novartis IT. Do yourself a favor and follow the advice given above - sharpen the saw.

Ugh...I was afraid of that. Oh well, I have already started looking. Hopefully I get out now before every job I apply for has a hundred other resumes with Alcon on them in the pile. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Anonymous]

if it makes you feel better the current outsourced IT model does not work well - users are pissed.