No room to grow - Director Merck Employee Review

3.0
Feb 10, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Lots of exciting science Buying up exciting modalities

Cons

Many upper management changes in last 2-3 years Company can’t prioritize - a lot of wasted energy on programs that everyone knew were dead months if not years before the plug was pulled A very old company - most of middle management is near retirement age but the next generation isn’t being trained to take over - boomer cliff vulnerability

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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