Merck Reviews in Whitehouse Station, NJ

Current Employee – been working at Merck full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Very well managed; excellent talent; a strong orientation to process excellence in all disciplines: science, manufacturing, sales and marketing and support services such as finance and IT.
A strong commitment to developing people. Managers who are well trained in people management and leadership skills. Good pay and excellent benefits.

Cons – The management is very careful in making decisions and bureaucratic. There is not much regard for the value of time or money because the company has had so much success for over thirty years, it rarely feels the pinch. In the US, there are too many people on staff since the merger with Schering Plough, so you can get lost in the shuffle pretty easily.

Advice to Senior Management – Operate leaner and pay people better. Functional management can bury a lot of good people and never get called on it. Employees need a better way of moving in the organization besides the existing posting system.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Merck as a contractor for less than a year

Pros – management is great - very professional and appreciate the work you put it. the job itself is very flexible allowing one to work remotely whenever possible. compensation is good as well.

Cons – work here as a consultant..so can't say much about benefits.

Advice to Senior Management – none

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Merck as a contractor for less than a year

Pros – Worked with great people and had a fantastic boss. work environment was good also. Loved the working hours and the job.

Cons – never got security badge so it made it difficult getting around the building, also never set up e-mail so I couldn't directly communicate with people.

Advice to Senior Management – make sure people get there badge when they start.

Current Employee – been working at Merck full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – people are generally smart
OK work-life balance
reasonable benefit though less than before

Cons – passive aggressive culture
very political
slow decision making
constant laying-off/restructuring lowers morale
salaries no longer competitive
limited career advancement

Advice to Senior Management – treat your employees right

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Merck full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – paid for my MBA, supported all my career aspirations

Cons – not as dynamic and enterpreneual as some of the other companies in the industry

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Merck full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Smart, capable colleagues; excellent work-life benefits; important mission; access to developmental resources; Whitehouse Station facility is gorgeous. Workforce reductions were done thoughtfully.

Cons – Crazy workload; don't have a great deal of respect for current HR leadership. Total compensation is much less competitive than it was in the past, though executive pay remains high and is not in line with company performance.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Merck

Pros – flexible working hours, friendly environment

Cons – compensation is not very competitive

Former Employee – worked at Merck

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!

Former Employee – worked at Merck

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.

Current Employee – been working at Merck

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.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend