No Work/Life Balance - Biotechnician Merck Employee Review

2.0
Aug 23, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The benefits are really good, and the pay is decent starting out. If you’re just coming out of college, then this is the type of job where you just save a bunch of money, work for a year to get experience, and then go do something else

Cons

No work/life balance; you can be forced to work overtime even if you didn’t sign up or have plans. And if you refuse, you will get disciplined or potentially fired. Also in terms of career advancement, there’s not really anywhere to go. Everyone’s at the same level. And if you’re at the bottom of the seniority list, then you usually get the short end of the stick. Other cons: Incompetent management, work is not stimulating, crappy shifts, seniority culture.

Explore other reviews about Merck

5.0
Jul 12, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Work Life Balance, Benefits, Remote Work

Cons

Easy to stagnate if not being proactive about building skills and networking

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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