Pros
I feel very compassionate towards helping patients and that is our true mission as a company. There have been many negative things said about Merck is the news and the pharmaceutical industry in general and it is a shame because we are being honest about our drugs. Merck is very ethical and senior management communicates well with the employees. I like the work life balance and being able to leave for my doctors appointments without ridicule. My vacation package is higher than other companies and in addition to my 3 weeks I get 4 floating holidays. I do feel like my managers care about my career opportunities with Merck.
Cons
Sometimes I feel like jobs are posted with specific people in mind and is just a way to promote certain people. This applies to the higher level positions. Promotions in place pretty much do not exist, so there is no incentive to become a subject matter expert because you have to move to a different job to get a promotion. Overall, we have too many higher level positions and not enough "workers." We are currently going through a de'layering process that makes everyone feel uncertain about their position with the company. This is ongoing, so we try not to think about it.