Merck reviews

4.1

83% would recommend to a friend

(6,160 total reviews)
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Rob Davis

82% approve of CEO

71% positive business outlook

Merck has an employee rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars, based on 6,160 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The Merck employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

6K reviews
3.0
Oct 6, 2012
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great benefits Relaxed atmosphere Cafeteria on site Discounts on cars, computer software, travel...

Cons

No work-life balance No real room for growth even though that was their bait for new hires No real structure Claims to be an empowered environment but not actually the case Micro-managed

2.0
Jul 11, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

They pay reasonably well. In areas not outsourced, there is much challenging work to do.

Cons

Have been a Merck a long time and the company has changed dramatically. Most significant change is in Sr. management. When I started, we had 5 or 6 VPs. Today there are 320+. Of course the increase in VPs can be accounted for when Merck went through a tremendous growth spell in the nineties. However in the last five years, we have been through multiple layoffs. But the layoffs did not impact Sr. management. They just keep on growing. There have been so many mishaps just in the last couple of years but there seem to be no consequences at the top -- just the worker bees feel the impact and lower level management. I use to be so proud to work for Merck -- I knew so many outstanding people with the highest level of ethics. It is sad to see where we are today.

3.0
Feb 10, 2026

Merck

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

It’s a big company, so there’s a lot of networking opportunities, especially with those who leave the company.

Cons

Favoritism. If you kiss up, you’ll move up faster. Doesn’t matter how much you know, it’s who you brown nose to.

Viewing 115 - 117 of 6,160 Reviews

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