Genentech Reviews

Pros

Strong inclusive culture, particularly in GIO (Genentech Immunology and Ophthalmology)

Cons

Career growth opportunities are slowing

Advice to Senior Management

Continue patient and science focus

Pros

There are a lot of great people, great products and very attractive salary and benefit packages.

Cons

Oftentimes, you are required to get buy-in from too many partners and levels of management that the process to get work done can be frustrating.

Pros

- Support personal growth which feeds in better satisfactory of work and live
- Great benefit

Cons

- If direct manager is not supportive, it make the work very challenge and unsatisfactory

Advice to Senior Management

- Repect and provide fair review/support to employees

Pros

Great science and pipeline of drugs under development
Well respectable brand and a fair compensation

Cons

management communication is not great

Advice to Senior Management

Please show more fairness in promotion

Pros

Competitive products that deliver value to patient. Competitive pay and benefits keeps the right people on the team. Collegial atmosphere.

Cons

The culture has changed with the Roche acquisition. Although still a creative company, this aspect has been dampened somewhat. More process-oriented.

Advice to Senior Management

I think management is doing well given the challenges over the past four years. I would recommend that they continue to focus on patient (customer) and employee.

Pros

The company always said we would go where the science leads us and we do what was right for our patients. We didn't worry about next quarter's profits or the stock price.

Great benefits, great co-workers (I've never worked at company with so many smart people) and good pipe line of new products

Cons

The manufacturing group is too bureaucratic and making a simple improvement is too difficult. Following cGMP change control was only a small part of the bureaucracy that you needed to work through to make a simple improvement.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep following the science and do what is right for our patients.

Pros

the companies overall attitude is good!!
It doesnt stress you too much at the end of the day

Cons

Taken over by roche!!! more said and more explained!!!! firing upper.middle and lower(including janitors) who work at genetech!!!

Pros

great science, rich portfolio of new products
talented pool of people
take care of commuters (e.g. gRide program, etc.)
great learning opportunities for young people

Cons

too many layers of management - too many associate directors who aren't competent on making the right decisions.
started to layoff people - laid off lower non-manager levels, but the middle management stayed. The remaining lower level staff are so swamped with the extra work from layoff coworkers yet afraid to complain due to job security.
too many politics
limited career growth opportunities unless you are well connnected. request for promotion is a lengthy process. be proactive to take on development or rotational assignments as these will help to move around internally.

Advice to Senior Management

Post merger integrations would have been much more effective if they were performed by 3rd parties such as management consulting firms. there were various conflicts between roche vs. genentech mgmt. as such, performing integration activities by internal folks simply weren't objective and effective.
Get rid of layers of middle management. keep the lower level workers.

Pros

Informative Intratent and good IT resources.

Cons

Poor communication. As a contractor, you are not able to experience the benefits that Genentech employees get down to sharing communal bicycles. Contractors are treated like subordinates. Good policies only apply to a small amount of individuals on campus that are Genentech employees.

Advice to Senior Management

Consider equal treatment of contractors and employees.

Pros

Patient focus
Willingness to take risks and innovate in process and technology, not just science
High caliber colleagues
Strong encouragement and opportunities for personal growth, including publishing and presenting

Cons

Complex work environment:
- Change is the norm
- Many many projects in parallel at the same time
Sometimes it could be too west-coast nice vs. east-coast direct

Advice to Senior Management

Do not loose focus on the patients and science
Continue supporting employee development
Continue and even improve challenging employees to own success of proposals, projects, ...