Genentech Reviews

Pros

Salary (The higher the degree the better); Training

Cons

a lot of cliques within the corporation (which is probably normal).

Pros

Nice perks such as the Genenbus, subsidized benefits, abundance of free food.

Fellow co-workers - non-management - are very pleasant and knowledgeable.

Cons

1. Hiring of people at below market salary and slow to promote
     a. constant claim of "business need" to warrant promotions, but with a convenient non-recognition of employee satisfaction being a substantial part of business need.
2. Line managers more interested in own projects than managing their own staff
3. Cash bonuses for recognition of good work are capped without sufficient explanation as to why

Pros

Science is amazing, approved medications truly help improve the lives of patients, GenenBus is awesome and very convenient, great gym, opportunity to work with very smart people who understand clinical development and the medical applications

Cons

gRED Clin Ops Leadership is not very strong and are only worried about keeping their jobs, severe micromanagement by uncaring and inexperienced Clin Ops Leadership, work environment is not consistent with mission, there is no work-life balance, new budget constraints make achieving deliverables very difficult

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to the hard-working employees who do the work and consider re-evaluating the skill set of the leaders in gRED ClinOps, keep policies consistent across the company (gRED operates as though they are a separate company and it is deterimental to the success of the glonal organization), be true to your reputation or you will continue to lose top talent

Pros

Scientific excellence
innovative
generous
competitive
Cutting edge research
Good mentorship, and excellent benefts provided.
Sesnse of community is very strong

Cons

slower upward mobility
titles are downplayed

Advice to Senior Management

Allow for some career flexibity

Pros

This is a place that values difference and embraces it. Love being surrounded by smart, motivated and genuinely nice people. The culture supports giving credit where credit is due. Love the South San Francisco location and the perks like the Genentech buses that bring people to work. But it's also great to have opportunities available to work anywhere Roche has offices. That's literally in dozens of countries.

Cons

Long hours and some of the integration issues post the merger with Roche make the work challenging sometimes. For example, we still have two email systems, two meeting calendar systems and two systems for virtual meetings. This makes interoperability between us and our colleagues in other parts of Roche difficult.

Advice to Senior Management

Let's make more decisions that help us to function as one company -- especially on the Informatics side. Roche and Genentech together make for a stronger company.

Pros

Energetic, engaged workforce. Meaningful products.

Cons

Promotions based on seniority and networking, not on ability/achievements.

Advice to Senior Management

Genentech will need to develop and retain newer employees to stay competetive.

Pros

good work/life balance
ethically a great place to work
input valued and encouraged

Cons

sometimes decisions are consensus driven and SLOW
compliance office is very conservative compared to other pharma cos and limiting to interactions

Advice to Senior Management

STOP re-orging the MCCO group!!

Pros

company produces nobel medicine that really save lives and I'm proud to be part of the company

Cons

tons of polotics, lots of butt kissing, employees are disconnected from their managers, lots of Associated directors and managers, so many layers and lots of hypes, the CEO he's only executing Roche commands.

Advice to Senior Management

advise to upper management make sure the lower level managers are trained properly and know how to manage.

Pros

Flexible work time. I am able to show up anytime between 8-9am. As long as I finish 9 hrs including lunch time I am ok. People here are really nice in general. They have a break room in every floor and in every building. The facility is very clean and its a great place to work at.

Cons

All their employees are head counts. In order to become an full time employee with benefits is really hard. The only way is if someone that is considered an head count leaves. And even the it is not a guarantee. You will still need to apply for that position, give a presentation, and be reconsidered.

Advice to Senior Management

If you want you contractors to work well and be satisfy with the company and you should treat them the way you are treated. In Genentech, contractors are green card and regular employees are blue card. Green card people do not have access to all doors, no benefits, not invited to any special event, and is not provided with a computer at their cubicle. Knowing how unfairly contractors are being treated, it is really hard to be satisfy with this job and want to stay. It keeps people constantly looking for a new and permanent job.

Pros

Genentech attracts people who're interested in its mission, not just making money. Being mission-driven, it's easy to argue for the right decision. But being non-hierarchical, it can take time to make those decisions.

Cons

Being owned by Roche, and no longer having profit sharing: Roche needed new life, and bought Genentech to save itself. Roche as many more developed corporate functions, but they get in the way of the mission of the company. Because of integration with Roche, there is much more confusion about corporate goals; in the past, you could print them on a T-shirt, and up to 70% of employees knew how their own jobs connected with corporate goals (US avg = 30%). Now, I'm sure it's less.

Advice to Senior Management

Be mission-oriented again: figure out what you care about. Know that the best think you have are your people. Create a place that rewards innovation and the shortest path to realizing the company's mission.