Confused, Stuck and Political - Associate Vice President Merck Employee Review

1.0
May 1, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

generous pay package short work day solid and recognizable brand lots of company sponsored resources to tap (online training, wellness programs, etc.)

Cons

incapable of change or business improvement without months of what Merck calls "alignment" meetings. Even senior management does not feel "safe" making a decision without comprehensive discussions resulting in backing/support from peers and executives. Success isn't clear and personal agendas reign. Titled hierarchy is oppresive and counter productive

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5.0
Jun 30, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Excellent company to work with.

Cons

No cons encountered so far

4.0
Jun 30, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great benefits like medical/dentist/vision, pension, stock option, 401k match. Co workers are excellent, pretty good on site symposiums, lot of diversity clubs/activities. Innovation is extremely welcomed. Diversity in research portfolio. AI/ML is heavily invested to make databases more efficient.

Cons

Micro managing, especially within the biologics department, potentially others. Promotions are limited, and pay bump is poor. Company invests too much in buying companies rather than keeping talent - lay offs let go of great talented people. Merck is afraid of investing into exploratory biology and doesn’t take risk - they even admit they would rather see other companies clinical data or R&D data rather than taking a risk. Although it’s slow going in building new software, current databases are slow and needs much improvement. Extremely poor work/life balance.

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