account manager

senior research associate

qc technician

sales director

clinical intern

Tolmar

Tolmar deserves credit for being a company where entry-level professionals can gain real, valuable experience in the pharmaceutical and cGMP industry. If you’re early in your career—especially in Quality Control Chemistry (QCC)—this is a place where you’ll receive strong foundational training. The systems, documentation standards, and exposure to regulated lab work will prepare you well for future opportunities. After about two years, you’ll likely leave with a highly marketable skill set.

That said, the expectations within QCC are very high. While high standards aren't inherently negative, they often result in significant work-related stress. Unfortunately, in 2024, that stress intensified dramatically. Senior leadership rolled out a flood of new initiatives and goals that, though perhaps well-intended, spread employees thin and created a culture of constant "firefighting." The work environment became increasingly chaotic, reactive, and unsustainable.

Many of us hoped that the immense efforts made by teams throughout 2024 would be acknowledged. That moment never came. During a fall 2024 town hall, when employees across departments voiced concerns about the unsustainable workload, a VP from Manufacturing responded—condescendingly—that we should “be grateful for [our] fires because it means [we] have a job.” Even more disappointing was the silence from the rest of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), including HR, who offered no clarification, correction, or even a token gesture of empathy.

Then, in early 2025, employees on non-traditional shifts were informed they would no longer receive three-day weekends for holidays. While this may be considered industry standard, the rollout felt more like a loss of basic respect than a simple policy update. When concerns were raised, a meeting was held with the VPs of Quality and HR. Rather than engaging with employee feedback, we were essentially told: “If you don’t like it, you’re welcome to find another job.” In that moment, it became clear—validation, empathy, and shared struggle were no longer values upheld by leadership.

Frontline supervisors did their best to support us, but their hands were tied. The damage was already done. Morale within QCC collapsed. Trust in HR and upper management disappeared. Many employees now lie on pulse surveys out of fear of retaliation. Change fatigue is rampant. And the burnout? It's not just about the workload—it’s about being unseen, unvalued, and unheard.

In short, Tolmar was once a place where you could learn, grow, and contribute meaningfully. But unless there’s a major cultural reset and a genuine commitment from leadership to start listening, they risk burning out the very people keeping the company alive.

Pros

Vacation time and Company paid holidays are generous. However, do not expect a competitive maternity or paternity leave policy should you be considering having or growing your family - it is very much below the current average for Pharma companies (4-6 weeks for Maternity/2 weeks for Paternity); Overall compensation is average.

Cons

I'll layout the issues with Tolmar Pharmaceuticals (Chicagoland portion of the Company) that I observed during my tenure. 

As a warning should you be seeking employment, my comments below are neither meant to be mean-spirited nor exaggerations.
Cons:
1) There isn’t anything material in the new product pipeline. New products would likely have to come solely from acquisitions, which have been attempted before and failed. My opinion: this is not a long-term employment opportunity;
2) Confusing company/organizational structure, which leads to inefficient and/or haphazardly performed processes;
3) Core values are very general and not followed to begin with. For example, there is not a solid grasp of integrity at the Sr. Mgmt level. I witnessed the Chicagoland- based CEO, on several occasions, misleading the Board of Directors. Not a great example to set;
4) The Chicagoland-based CEO over the primary specialty product does not give clearly-defined direction to the Company's employees. Very scatterbrained. It's pretty clear that no real thought is given with regards to the Company’s future. Additionally, any decisions, thoughts/ideas, and any attempt at direction is beyond passive-aggressive. It's quite disappointing and embarrassing;
5) The culture is very much reactionary vs. leading-action oriented;
6) If you do end up working here, and should you find yourself needing to educate the CEO on something, plan on reexplaining things several times over; quite frustrating and may be a sign this Company's leader just does not care. I’ve never seen anything like it;
7) As Tolmar is a small company, do not expect many growth opportunities.

A typical day starts with a meeting to tell your shift how bad you are all doing, and to remember to keep a positive attitude. Seriously, you better keep a positive attitude or you are gone. The worst part is they will ask you over and over how you feel about things. And if you tell them anything other than "everything is great, keep up the great work!" you will be forever marked as "negative".

HR will take the side of your overly aggressive boss, so don't waste your time there.

Management will literally micromanage you down to the second... I'm not kidding, the second. And are constantly looking to point the finger at someone as to why their brilliant plans aren't working.

At the end of the day it will feel like nothing you do matters here. No matter how hard you push it, how great of numbers you get, it will not be enough. It's like management views Quality as just another obstacle to get around, rather than an important part of pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Also, you don't get real lunches here. They want you to do this absurd lunch rotation among the people on your process that will force someone to take these weird break times, and will leave your team shorthanded for the majority of the day.

The hardest part of the job is trying to deliver on the out of touch, unrealistic demands of management. When you try to communicate what you need to achieve these goals, they don't want to hear it. They just want to magically triple production without having to invest in their processes.

No doubt that Tolmar is a busy, growing company that faces the same issues any company has when making the change from small to mid-size.  I have found that there will always be people who find something not to like, whether it's about pay, benefits, schedule, culture, rules, etc.  But I also know that the grass is not always greener on the other side.

As a longer-term employee, I feel a little offended by some of the newer employees who seem to get bent out of shape by every little thing.  They may not understand the reasons behind the things bothering them, but need to trust that there are people in management doing their best to make things happen.  That's why they're in their jobs, and I don't claim to know what they deal with every day.

Also, I'm not sure where some people have worked before, but these are by far the best benefits I've ever had, and not just the insurance.  We get lots of time off and other perks that most of my friends wish they had at their work.

Tolmar has put a lot of money and time into building and expanding in the Fort Collins area, allowing all of us to keep living where we want to be and working for a company that makes products that help people all over the world.  To me, that's pretty cool and I feel lucky.

If people aren't happy with the environment, they really should find another opportunity that truly makes them happy and where they will not feel the need to complain or burn bridges.  Life's too short!

When I first get to work I walk through Mfg. and find out what is going on and what has happened.  I then communicate that to my Supervisors and we formulate a pass down and position team members as to what process they will go to.  I typically will be in bulk formulation where myself and one other will take over a bulk already in process, will start the bulk for day, or clean any equipment needed and coordinate the release and testing of cleaned production equipment.  Occasionally I will run a filling operation and train operators in the production and filling equipment.
I have learned much in my job in bulk formulations of emulsions and learning new equipment is always a plus.  
Our management team was a very good one when company was small but now with the company growing in leaps and bounds they seem to be not able to keep up and make smart decisions concerning scheduling and day to day operations.  
The people I work with are the best and all are very well trained and we work as a team and I feel that I have a lot to do with our 2nd shift being that way.
The hardest part of the job is not always having the tools or equipment to make our process as efficient as possible.
The most enjoyable is the people I work with.

The warehouse is a very hostile work environment. Separation is encouraged by the manager. SHE pits you against other departments and involves you in personal feuds, making getting work accomplished difficult. Very immature work environment where tattling or throwing people under the bus is encouraged. If you try to go out of your way to help other departments, she will scold you in front of the team and criticize your time management. You must be a "yes maa'm" or risk getting on her radar. Once on, your fate is sealed. Good employees have been lost from challenging her poor ideas and from backstabbing. She shoots down suggestions or ideas at the time, shortly after.....they are great ideas....and her own. The HR department will ALWAYS take management's side, regardless if you have proof of their fault or of a fake accusation. Management intimidates to try and motivate, the phrase used within warehouse is "your career is over" or "that's a career ender!".
    Employees are treated as they are expendable. Due to an unexpected windfall several tens of millions in extra profit were received during 2015. Employees did not earn a $1.00 bonus despite working 50-60 hrs per week. For a pharmaceutical company the pay is WELL below standard even though they try to convince you it is on par.

Average day 
Normally on the floor, you go in and gown into scrubs and out of your street clothes, you put on your “captive shoes” (steel toe usually) and walk into the the area for the team meeting at the beginning of the shift to discuss very general things and found out what process and machine you are on with what people. Then you work in a number of processes, generally doing regular manufacturing work with a not insignificant amount of paperwork at the beginning and end of “lots” or “batches” You do that for 8 hours, then wrap the day up with another team meaning after tying up loose ends for the next shift.

I believe this job does a good job of familiarizing people with the manufacturing environment and people are very friendly to newcomers if you are hard-working and polite

Lower management is generally friendly, and accommodating when they can be. But upper management has no idea what the decisions they make entail for the regular production. Or they do have an idea but set too high goals considering the quality of the machines. 

This job can be very boring but the people are generally great. Very friendly. 

This is the worst company I’ve ever worked for, micromanagement, unprofessional conduct and preferential treatment run rampant from upper management down to hourly employees, they push an unrealistically aggressive schedule despite being severely understaffed you are expected to be busy every minute of the shift and not break procedures or make errors on unreasonably tedious production records and forms you are expected to do a thorough audit of the previous shifts work and if you miss an error you will be disciplined equally or worse than the employee who originally made the mistake. Management refuses to hear constructive criticism or suggestions for improvement they refuse to convert to digital documentation to reduce human errors compliance associates are critical and overbearing, filling and packaging machines are on life support and constantly break down stalling production employees are very negative and constantly complain and talk about applying at other companies.

I joined Tolmar in 2019 and genuinely enjoyed my early years there. Unfortunately, over time I watched many talented and respected employees leave while the culture within my department steadily declined, especially over the last two years.
The culture quietly depended on regular overtime to sustain unrealistic workloads. Employees who struggled to maintain that pace often felt scrutinized rather than supported, and difficult conversations too frequently centered on performance deficiencies rather than problem-solving, coaching, or development.
Leadership within the department struggled with proactive communication, effective change management, and realistic workload expectations. The environment increasingly felt reactive rather than collaborative, and accountability rarely seemed to extend upward.
I communicated my burnout concerns directly to HR upon departure, and leaving was not an easy decision because this department did not always operate this way. There was a time when the culture felt collaborative and genuinely positive, which makes the recent decline especially discouraging.

First the good. Tolmar has great revenue growth, a solid product portfolio, and outstanding bennifits. I honestly believe the Senior Management is commited to providing for the needs of the employees..Now the bad.

My Dept was rife with favoritism where serious safety violations were repeatedly ignored, severe incompetence was glossed over, and lies went unchallenged to protect favored employees. The chain of command was more interested in protecting powerful people as opposed to improving safety, ethical conduct, and upholding Tolmar corporate procedures!

My dept was not unique as others reported to me that "fear as a motivator" was common at Tolmar.

Tolmar is a good old girls/boys club and if you find yourself on the wrong side of the club you will likely be fired. In my tenure at Tolmar firings were common and came quickly.

There are serious cultural problems at Tolmar that I would be aware of before relocating for this company!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Account manager 13 salaries reported	$128,462 per year
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Clinical intern 1 salary reported	$19.00 per hour

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