Pay is terrible, and all of the benefits offered are very expensive. For example, I have one of the lowest quality healthcare plans which requires that I pay $200 out of my pocket each time I see the doctor; yet the net amount of money deposited into my bank account is half of what I earned (i.e. if I make $2000 in two weeks, I have $1000 deposited into my checking account); this just shows how expensive even the low quality "benefits" really are.
Company does a terrible job of promoting from within. Promotion process is slow as molasses and it causes people to become arrogant for being 1 level higher than you. If you really want to move up within the firm, take a lateral move to Hospira (or other rival firm) for a 25% pay bump, stay there for 12-18 months, then reapply to Baxter at a position 1-2 levels higher than where you were and receive another 20% pay bump. Or, quit your job to start your own consulting firm; Baxter will hire you to do the same job that you did previously, and they will pay you over twice as much.
My mentors (Director & VP level) have all told me to quit Baxter because it is terrible at career development. Go to work at Baxter if you're looking to retire and not have to worry about acquiring additional skills. We had Windows XP on our computers up until the point that Microsoft announced a discontinuation of support on Windows XP. Many people who come to Baxter from other firms need to re-learn how to use older versions of software.
Baxter is not a prestigious of a firm. Somehow we still sucker people from good schools like Northwestern to accept a job here (these people at NU must be dumb or desperate to fall for that trick).
