Big promises, no publications - Postdoctoral Fellow Merck Employee Review

1.0
Jun 25, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Free parking Looks good on CV

Cons

Virtually no one from my year was allowed/able to publish any work. Phony reasons why publications are pushed back (Merck' agenda for postdocs: patent first, then publish... How's that supposed to work?) Was part of a department where the majority of employees were laid off or managed out of the company (department was eventually closed). Hence, terrible atmosphere within the department. Basically no one in the lab to work you in or support you. After months of work and once you have great data, supervisor takes data and runs off to the boss to present work as his/her own. More than 90% of postdocs from my year eventually left the company. Overall, horrific postdoc program. Regret every day I spent at this company. Advice 1: Don't take up the offer for the relocation program Advice 2: Don't join this program

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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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