Today, five major companies from the Pharmaceutical Industry – Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Pfizer, and Roche – will be judged not on their latest market moves or drug trials, but by their employees feel about working for them. Using Comparably’s employee-submitted reviews and information, we’ve put together a virtual picture of what it’s like for the average employee for one of these five companies: Are the benefits good? Is there a healthy spread of diversity? Read on and find out…
OVERALL CULTURE
Roche, which also has a diagnostics arm, takes the first little gold trophy for the Overall Culture category. All five companies did reasonably well here, with last-place Pfizer rating just ten points behind first-place Roche.
Bristol-Meyers Squibb: “The workplace offers a great bunch of people and very good camaraderie.”
Johnson & Johnson: “The team genuinely cares about one another and encourages us to bring our best selves to work.”
Merck: “The culture is one of self promotion (due to size and culture) which creates over hype of unimportant things at times.”
Pfizer: “We get an opportunity to do meaningful work. Good balance between deep thinking/creative work and getting things done. Great co-workers who bring fun to the day.”
Roche: “The vast majority of folks are sincerely driven by our mission to help impact the lives of patients afflicted with cancer, and I think this shows in our daily efforts and overall approach to our work and solutions. All in all, I’m very proud to call myself a member of the Roche Family.”
CEO & LEADERSHIP
Roche takes a second trophy, with their CEO Severin Schwan sharing the victory with Bristol-Meyers’ Giovanni Caforio. Again, a b spread of showings, with Pfizer’s last place for CEO Ian Read rating just ten points back from the tied winners.
Bristol-Meyers Squibb: “There is a real attempt at transparency and commitment to focus on well-being of our patients.”
Johnson & Johnson: “They are dedicated to helping patients. The company and management always strive to do the right thing.”
Merck: “Visionary and strategic leadership with inspiring and clear direction.”
Pfizer: “Pfizer has a b leadership team devoted to progressing the vision of the company. But they do not focus on bettering their employees.”
Roche: “They are all very open to talk to, from very bottom to the top.”
COMPENSATION
And Bristol-Meyers now takes a second trophy, after sharing the previous category with Roche. Bristol-Meyers takes the Compensation category with a rare A+, beating Roche’s second-place A. Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and Pfizer again turned in respectable performances that weren’t quite good enough for the gold or silver.
Bristol-Meyers Squibb: “Fair pay compared to industry and regional norms.”
Johnson & Johnson: “The pay is fair compared to what I have heard others speak ofin the industry.”
Merck: “There seems to be great differences in base salary of long time Merck employees vs. those from acquired companies with the same tenure. Annual bonuses range from 26K to 31K in my division.”
Pfizer: “The pay and benefits are pretty good but are starting to lose their competitive edge.”
Roche: “The compensation at Roche is on the median line when compared to the other pharmaceutical companies.”
PERKS & BENEFITS
Roche takes another win for Perks & Benefits, but three companies – Bristol-Meyers, Merck, and Roche – received A+ scores (which maybe aren’t that rare in this industry after all) from their employees in this category. You would think Big Pharma would at least have their employees covered in terms of health benefits, so its reassuring to see.
Bristol-Meyers Squibb: “Comprehensive benefit package including vision, childcare, etc.”
Johnson & Johnson: “They need to improve at providing benefits that are better aligned with Millennial needs. Things like unlimited vacation, sabbaticals, free lunches at work, etc.”
Merck: “Insurance benefits are very expensive and coverage not what you’d expect from big pharma.”
Pfizer: “Everything is super cheap, from health care to 401k. They match very well and take care of everyone. We now have paternity leave for men. That says a lot.”
Roche: “Outstanding benefits package with very generous perks such as paid maternity / paternity / bonding leave, + extended leave if desired.”
DIVERSITY
Big leaguer Johnson & Johnson finally truly shines in of our categories, taking the trophy for Diversity. Again, all five companies – save perhaps Pfizer, who got a C+ – scored well and within reasonable range of the winner.
Bristol-Meyers Squibb: “It is very diverse.”
Johnson & Johnson: “They are diverse but continue to follow the company credo.”
Merck: “I feel that male peers of similar experience are paid more, while i am consistently given more work and greater responsibility.”
Pfizer: “Good gender parity. Spotty ethnic diversity.”
Roche: “There is an utter lack of diversity in mindset. They may have a few minority members of upper management, but the risk averse nature of their management styles are identical.”
OUTLOOK
Bristol-Meyers Squibb: “I love having the ability to work on projects that are technically interesting and contribute to the company’s success.”
Johnson & Johnson: “I am so pleased seeing the positive impact we make in our customers’ lives.”
Merck: “Company is slightly suffering from lack of product innovation. Price increases are becoming outrageously high and customers are reacting negatively.”
Pfizer: “There are a lot of very bright and innovative folks at work who are trying their best to move the company forward.”
Roche: “People are passionate about what they do at Roche and that is motivating. We feel the impact our work brings on the patient’s life.”
With a final victory in Outlook, it’s Roche for the overall win. Pfizer could use a little improvement, but the overall story we see from this comparison is that the pharmaceutical industry has reasonably good culture, benefits, diversity, and compensation across the board. Many industries we look at for this column can’t compete with the overall class of this bunch.
