Amgen Reviews in Los Angeles, CA Area

Pros

Amgen as a company employs very smart people, morale is good, and colleagues are younger in age. Good emphasis on colleague training.

Cons

Thousand Oaks, as a location for industry, is a bit limited. Limited university learning opportunities. For those who relocate, and most of Amgen's people do, LA is the closest "scene".

Advice to Senior Management

Much of the management has come from other big pharma, so there is a bit of discontinuity among management styles as a company.

Pros

- Good overall package (salary, benefits, etc)
- Good environment
- Good location (Southern California)

Cons

- Decision making process too slow (meetings after meetings...)
- Company is under restructuring
- Company very dependent on a few products

Advice to Senior Management

Company is currently losing high talented people due to lack of career perspective.
Dependency on a few products seems very risky. In-licensing opportunities should be incentivized and assessed to generate other sources of revenue.

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

Pros

Benefits, high caliber staff, bonuses

Cons

Disorganized, senior management kills innovation

Advice to Senior Management

Return to core competency as a science-based company

Pros

Great benefits. Two company shutdowns (christmas and summer) in addition to regular 15 days of vacation. Great tuition reimbursement too, I was able to complete my masters degree and they paid for it!

Cons

The management tends to not listen to the employees, and only to their favorite people. It seems to be difficult to reach professional growth here...

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to your employees. Spend less money on rash acquisitions and deals. Offer more opportunities for growth. I guess that's it...

Pros

good compensation and benefits, beautiful place and nice gym.

Cons

Poor deicision making process in the upper management due to disconnection among functions. Too much policitcs in daily business. Reward system is based on favatisim and seniority rather than delivering results. Incompetence and lack of training of the middle managers resulting in low morale and waste of resources of the organization.

Advice to Senior Management

Need to make some major changes in the upper management to restore constructive and science-oriented culture in the organization. Get rid of the low performers in the upper and mid-level management. Link the incentive system with innovation and results delivery, increase transparency in promotion, train the mid-managers to be able to respect, recogonize, and reward the top achievers. And help the managers to build their ability to assist and mentor their subordinates in their career advancement and motivate the team to deliver top performance.

Pros

Nice atmosphere (the look of the facilities in T.O.). Nice to have Amgen on your resume.

Cons

Upper level Management is like an abused Mental Patient. One moment we are going in a direction the next moment we are going the opposite direction. Then for no apparent reason we are laying off 120 people then we are not. Upper level management is the worst group of self serving narcissists you will ever encounter. If you are into wild rides go work for Amgen. If you want stability look elsewhere.

Advice to Senior Management

Upper Level Management is beyond help. They are only concerned about: keeping their jobs at any cost to the employees and the company.

Pros

The company provides employees with great benefits. The headquarters is world class and located in a beautiful setting. Great cafeterias. Nice people. The truth is highly valued.

Cons

Poor stock performance, very political culture, few opportunities for advancement, incompetent management, the compensation and promotion system feels gamed. Good people are not recognized. If you are not ex-Navy or ex-Merck, you have a job, not a career. Good luck getting people to listen to your ideas. Many people feel they have never worked so hard for so little praise, advancement and compensation in their careers.

Advice to Senior Management

Get rid of the dead wood in upper management. Focus people on doing a few things extremely well, instead of trying to do everything poorly. Resources are extremely stretched. Reward managers for managing down, instead of managing up.

Pros

Work with some smart, friendly people - many willing to show you the ropes.
Large company structure allows for a flexible work environment.
Gym on campus is a huge plus.

Cons

Coming from an engineering background, my position is far from technical.
Processes to get certain tasks accomplished can be daunting/frustrating.
Salary is on the low end for computer science/computer engineering graduates but the company makes up for this with great benefits.

Advice to Senior Management

Gather feedback from new hires about their position, what they like/dislike.

Pros

Good benefits, very progressive company, on site child care at Camp Amgen, great on site cafeteria, employee services, the campus is in a great town and neighborhood.

Cons

It seemed like I was always at Amgen. I worked an average of 9 hours a day. My first son started going to Camp Amgen when he was 12 weeks old. I would drop my kids off at Camp Amgen at 8 am, their father would pick them up at 4ish and I wouldn't see them 'till 7 or 8 pm. I finally decided to leave and be part of my children's lives. Very stressful job.

Advice to Senior Management

I wish that Kevin Sharer would address the company culture and restore it to what it use to be. I believe he has caused the company to go downhill and has played a leading role in the recent layoffs.