Amgen Reviews

Former Employee – worked at Amgen

Pros – Leaders in implementing new technologies and business strategies. Benefits are very good and they offer a lot of employee programs to support health and family. (Unfortunately, everyone is so over worked they can't benefit from these programs, but at least the company is making them available.)

Cons – More time is spent on corporate spin than on actually developing and manufacturing drugs. The politics have overwhelmed the work that is being done. Every bit of data is massaged and presented in presentations and more time is actually spent on colors and charts than on the actual data that went into the reports. So much time is spent "talking" about the data, the message behind the data is actually missing.

Advice to Senior Management – It's not ALL about the shareholders. Put more focus on development and manufacturing. Elevate those within the company and be open to contrary opinions. Appreciate that dissonance creates value. Bring back Gordon Binder as a consultant to assist with identifying new opportunities that can grow Amgen beyond financial positioning.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Amgen

Pros – The company has very good benefits

Cons – there are too many layers in the company so work never gets done

Advice to Senior Management – clean house, 17000 people are not needed to run a company

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Amgen

Pros – The nature of work is very satisfying: serving patients

Cons – Everything else, esp the management or so called leaders

Advice to Senior Management – get your act together or leave

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Amgen

Pros – Large company = great amenities on campus, good salary and benefits

Cons – Management is TERRIBLE. In my business unit management was completely incompetent. They were not qualified in the area they were leading, had no vision, no strategy & only talked about the issues, but put no plans in place. A total of about 8 people ruined my experience there. They played a nasty game of politics/empire building.

Advice to Senior Management – stick to what you know. try relying on the professionals you hired! Take a hard look at yourself and stop hiding behind alot of talk. do something.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Amgen

Pros – Great benefits and salary on industry average. Hang in there as the options around T.O are extremely limited if you plan to stay in this industry and you don't want to relocate or commute long distances

Cons – Too many inappropriately promoted Exec Directors and Directors. Promotions confuse great individual contributor skills with ability to manage others. Much fierce internal competition. Who you report to really matters here. High percentage of really sub-standard support staff and associates.

Advice to Senior Management – Employees see CEO as have two sets of standards. One for himself and then the Amgen Values

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Amgen

Pros – Good pay. Good benefits. Nice and safe city. Intelligent people all around.Company's mission is motivating (to serve patients). Cafeteria food is great. Nice gym. Laundry service on site (among others).

Cons – Poor career development. Poor management. Poor HR organization. Messy, no structure and process in place. Unfair treatment to employees depending how many people you know, and who you know. Promotions and movements not transparent, often given to those who have good connections. Not merit-based. Performance review cycle send lots of people into therapy because they like to put you down until you have no self-esteem left. No positive reinforcement.

Advice to Senior Management – Lisen to your employees. Do something about the Global Climate Survey results. Yes, Amgen has poor decision making - what have we done about it at all? Get rid of poor managers, please. Be science based, be budget conscious, ACT LIKE A BUSINESS!!!

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Amgen

Pros – Great time off, great 401 k match, decent health insurance, goood manuracturing training program.

Cons – Terrible management, constant indecision, too much in the way of politics, good old boy network is in place with a friends of upper management filling all the middle management positions.

People are very aggressive and a lot of the time for no good reason. If you are an easy going person, this is not the place for you. Management will constantly re-examine their decisions, and you will be asked to drop everything to take care of the newest top priority to the point where it will become a running joke. Management cares more about protecting their personal interests as opposed to doing what is best for the company.

Advice to Senior Management – Listen to your employees.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Amgen

Pros – Great food - catered by Sodexho. NIce surroundings - They spend countless millions on landscaping.

Cons – It is like working in a prison. A Stalinist society where staff snicth on each other and back-bite. Where you can be denounced by an unknown staff member. The result is a lack of initiative and an environment of fear.

The President, is a vain, arrogant man who collects jets and feels he needs two armed chauffeurs to drive his car.

Advice to Senior Management – Spend money on research, not landscaping and planes. Fire the Sharer he has no clue about technology.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Amgen

Pros – Decent job pay right out of college.

Cons – Horrible management. Huge office politics. It doesn't matter what you know as long as you are hot and have boobs. This company is such a joke. There are many incompetent people in management, and they hire incompetent people. The people who leave, are laid off, or fired are usually the best and brightest.

Advice to Senior Management – Do something about the incompetent managers, they make decisions to cover their butt, rather then what is best for the company.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Amgen

Pros – The benefits and compensation packages are good. If you dont mind selling your soul for your company this is the right place for you!

Cons – Management is horrible. Work life balance is non-existent. Not quickly promoted if you are female or over age 40. They seem to be hiring a lot of "former military" folks in upper mangmnt, which is fine but does not mesh well with the culture of the former Amgen staff (I have been there 12 years). People are treated differently in the military than in civilian life and they don't make the distinction. Lots of creepy stuff going on - the rules do not apply the same to all staff members.

Advice to Senior Management – Value your staff by listening to them and establish a true grievance system if there is a complaint about a manager. What happened to the old "do the right thing" value system we used to have? That seemed to go out the window when Kevin took over.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend