Scientific excellence and depth, plus bureaucracy - Associate Director, IT Merck Employee Review

4.0
Jul 3, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The science and the scientists at Merck are top notch, and in Merck Research Labs the shared mission is palpable and energizing. Compensation and benefits are quite good, and in my department work life balance was excellent with very flexible work hours.

Cons

Like all pharma, Merck is searching for the magic organizational formula for successful drug discovery and development. That path is painful and at times demotivating. On a smaller scale the same thing is happening in IT: a quest to find the right level of agility.

Explore other reviews about Merck

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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