Genentech Reviews

Pros

People are still great, and you're doing important work for patients. Compensation and benefits are competitive-or-better. Nice campus, pleasant place to work.

Cons

Roche management are idiots. The integration virtually destroyed countless departments at this company. Roche was (and is) more interested in protecting their own and showing GNE exactly who's boss than they are in doing the right thing. I saw our department waste 10s of millions of dollars putting in a new database system because the Roche system sucked and they refused to adopt the Genentech system, because it was Genentech (and by definition anything Genentech is bad). I can count two dozen people just from my department who either left or were forced out by idiot management, and all of them were better than the Roche people who replaced them. There's a reason this company has plummeted in the rankings of "best place to work" from #1 a few years ago to about #50, and that free-fall is not going to stop any time soon. Watching this place now is like watching a loved one slowly die. It's agonizing, and I'm glad I moved on before Roche finishes throwing dirt on the body.

Advice to Senior Management

Remember that, before you took over, Genentech was a world-class company with a more robust pipeline than anyone else in the industry (including Roche). Stop trying to force your outdated, bloated policies (that were choking your company into oblivion in the first place) and idiot upper management stooges down our throats and try to collaborate with the people here. You might learn something, and the company will be better off.

Pros

Good, smart, knowledgeable people. Interesting work, improving patient lives. Great salary, competitive benefits. Solid communication. Overall a very good company to work for.

Cons

The company is still integrating work and systems from the Roche merger, creating some confusion and overlap. The highest growth in the San Francisco area is probably over.

Advice to Senior Management

None.

Pros

Location in California in relation to major city, good universities and academic locations, many products in pipeline as well as on the market, Good people still work here for now, Corporate history as the birth of biotechnology

Cons

Corporate politics have split company into competing factions with different priorities that increase inefficiencies and drug development timelines/costs, maintain divisions between Roche and GNE, and increase bureaucratic processes instead of focusing on medicine and patients. Too many changes based on cost-cutting leading to 'brain-drain' of excellent people, some of these changes unnecessary such as change in cafeteria vendor so food is now awful. Other necessary changes still have not occurred including one email or calendar client or other software to minimize system errors and inefficiencies. Can't trust management to keep to promises or be transparent on decision-making, increase in management layers have increased the number of people focused on politics rather than science & who create barriers for the people beneath them doing the work to develop medicine. Unfairness in promotions have increased as middle management gather supporters around them in a time of flux. People in the same department still have not integrated titles so Roche employees' may be reporting to GNE people with a lower title or have been mapped to a much lower level than justified. Unfairness in compensation also as bonuses are also scheduled to match Roche's to be much lower for GNE employees but salaries will not be raised to match Roche's so GNE employees will have lower compensation overall than Roche counterparts. Lots more changes still to come make this an awful company to work for in the next few years.

Advice to Senior Management

Streamline the reporting structure so gRED and pRED are accountable to pMED or at least the same people to stop the infighting and pissing contests. Get rid of the layer of middle management that aren't doing the work and empower the lowest levels to make best decisions for the projects.

Pros

great benefits, fair sallary, acceptable worklife balance,

Cons

started to lay off, Roche influnce changing the culture

Advice to Senior Management

decision making process for the lay offs were not clear.

Pros

great campus in which to work

Cons

low salaries for staring employees and difficult to recover

Advice to Senior Management

work on bonuses

Pros

Great benefits, good with time off, good pay. The overall mission of the company is good and the drugs have helped a lot of people

Cons

Some departments have good management but others have horrible management. My group had trouble with micromanagement, favoritism and pigeonholing employees. The group leadership often had no idea of what the actual demands of the jobs were and policies were made without consulting the end users. There was little opportunity for networking or advancement. We also had to work a lot of hours

Pros

Great benefits, pay package, perks

Cons

Bad Management practices, unprofessional work attitude

Advice to Senior Management

Old School and closed

Pros

Flexibility, large SSF Campus, people, compensation, casual

Cons

work politics, demanding, fast pace

Pros

Cutting edge research, great science and great people. Great benefits.

Cons

slow growth, competitive, too large an organization.

Pros

Great benefits, very smart people, great environment to thrive.

Cons

Too much ego at times gets in the way of productivity and team building. Basis for career advancement/promotions are too rigorous. Such pressures build an environment for dishonesty.

Advice to Senior Management

Scientific managers should take their leadership role seriously and held accountable for their team.