Merck Reviews in New York City, NY Area

Pros

Good compensation, good resources, good support. People are supportive of your work and there is definitely a collaborative atmosphere there.

Cons

In recent times, scientific jobs have become very unstable due to out sourcing so there are constant worries regarding job security.

Pros

Good working environment and good research

Cons

No promising career development and promotion

Advice to Senior Management

Focus on products, which are promising to be deliverable. Make right decision instead of following others.

Pros

Benefits, salary, commute, colleagues and pension

Cons

poor group interaction (silos) and complicated ways of doing things

Advice to Senior Management

continue to transfer Merck for the better

Pros

Excellent benefits and salary. Ability to grow with the company. Working with excellent management
staff.

Cons

Job can be demanding and many time lines to meet. Can get lost in a large company for
promotions.

Advice to Senior Management

Show respect to all. Listen to coworkers thourghts and recommendations.

Pros

Excellent workplace flexibility - I could work from home whenever I needed to.
Company store - cheap Merck products
Good salaries and benefits
Really good people - peers. Everyone works really hard and understands the company mission to save lives and make people feel better.

Cons

Upper management thinks they know what everyone is doing but in truth, do not.
People are afraid to say what they think - no "courage and candor" although the company lists this as a core competency. People have gotten their "hands slapped" for speaking up and giving opinions (especially after the merger with Schering-Plough).
Company downsizing in order to keep up with the economy, but they don't seem to be changing how they operate in a changing Pharma environment.
When the merger happened, Merck said they wanted to have a culture more like Schering but after 2 years, it has reverted to the "old Merck" - see comment on courage and candor.

Advice to Senior Management

Find out what your teams are really doing.
Use your Merck Sigma expertise and stop wasting so much time making decisions by consensus - just get it done!

Pros

It's a great place to work. Benefits are great. Time off from work (e.g. vacation/holidays) generous, great flexibility options to support work life balance. Strong teams, dedicated employees but you always have your few in there that you'd like to vote off the island. Long hours are usually due to a major project with a tight deadline, but other than that, you should find a nice balance. There are a lot more good, competent folks than not.

Cons

There is currently a huge range in salaries, so you can be working with co-workers who are paid significantly more for doing the same job. Lately in my department, manager level and above positions are going to external candidates outside the department including those outside the company, which limits growth of local talent.

This is not the case in my department, but I've seen a lot of outsourcing. A lot of departments are sourced with more than half of their staff from third parties. It leaves you wondering, why can't they find the talent locally. I guess it really is that outsourcing is significantly cheaper because I don't see better service or capabilities by going offshore. I've seen a lot of good people, talented, dedicated, and willing to go the extra mile, being laid off, as their job is shipped overseas. It's some really sad times right now.

Advice to Senior Management

Develop your local talent, if you find yourself constantly hiring from outside instead of promoting the internal staff, ask yourself, why that is the case and work with your local folks to get them to the point where you're promoting them. Trust me, we are trying to figure out what you want, but can't figure it out on our own, so we need your guidance to help shape the Merck you're after.

Pros

in most areas, flexible work arrangements negotiable
pension when most companies don't
good benefits - medical, dental, vision, life, legal, flex accounts, long term care
if you get the right manager/department, training opportunities possible
possible to have many careers with the same employer
global company

Cons

hierarchical - consultants have a better hearing than employees
slow moving - ponderous decision making and then the decisions get revisited
shareholders are the most important stakeholders
not finished layoffs
new CEO
entrenched executive team

Advice to Senior Management

If "courage and candor" continue to be linked you can be sure that neither will emerge. When the culture wants to hear from employees, you won't need a slogan.

Pros

there is a fair amount of work life balance

Cons

compensation could be better as bonus is a large portion of total package

Pros

Compensation is good.
Benefits are also good.
The people (most of them) are friendly, courteous and professional.
The technology is fairly up-to-date and modern.

Cons

Layoffs!
Top senior management gets ridiculous compensation (tens of millions), then pushes to lay off employees. The methods used to accomplish things are unnecessarily complex, when something more simple and straightforward would do the job more quickly and accurately.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop compensating top management such obscene amounts.

Pros

Strong financial foundation allows for long term success
Merck people do care about the company and each other
Pharma hours - see 9 - 5 as a long day

Cons

Culture is broken, trying to avoid the mistakes of the past - Vioxx for Merck the Consent Decree for Schering. Radically different management styles between the two companies with no reasonable way to blend them. Efforts are being wasted trying to satisfy both sides while everyone is looking for cover.

Advice to Senior Management

Merck culture and practices should prevail. Stop trying to be nice to Schering and recognize the new company is stilled called Merck.