Team 3 Gone

Wife's cousin on inside gave heads up-- word is Team 3 going. He would/could not give timeline. Anyone know. Honest answers only please.. I have kids. Thanks.

 

Rumor from a cousin, really? I have a friend who is a plumber that plays poker with a Merck groundskeeper, he is a neighbor of a Merck cafeteria cook who overheard from a Merck fleet services guy that team 3 might be let go. This rumor crap has to stop folks.

 

This is from the cafepharma thread entitled a word of caution. It says timeline is "by fall". Disease Focus Cardio and the Resp Specialty Team have already been notified of layoffs. PC still waiting on notification, IF IF IF this is true........



I am going to share what I was told. You may dismiss this or prepare.

The disease focus cardio team will be let go. Almost all pc territories will go to two up. There may be a few that would remain at three if business and access warranted but not very many.

This will occur by fall. The only person safe is the current diabetes primary rep as they don't want to disrupt current relationships.

 

The countdown begins tomorrow September 1. 15 days to the life of the company renews. Long live Merck!

 

Team 3 with kids here too. Watching boards closely for solid info. Lots of junk posted so be picky about what to believe. I do think cuts are coming. I think they'll be referenced on 9/28 global call, with notifications going out 10/6. That date has been on a few threads now in different formats indicating different authors maybe? Total guessing on my part so take with a grain of salt. If we get past 10/6 with no announcements I'm settling in for a new good year and ditching checking CP boards. If cuts do happen the question is will it be team 3 clean cut away, or a 3rd party company that thins the herd to 2 up so they can keep who they want and vice versa? Cuts may not happen at all, but they do seem to make business sense right now unfortunately.

 

I posted the October 6th date and I apologize because it is based on nothing. Was hoping to get someone who actually knows something to refute my post and provide us with some facts.
Please forgive me. With that, if anything is imminent wouldn't the product marketing teams know because they have to plan? I mean, please tell me that Marketing isn't operating on a day-to-day basis.

 

That was a good try and frankly a decent date to choose for flushing out more info. It's a Thursday which is typically when cut calls happen and satisifies the 60 day warn period. So you might have hit it right on the nose by chance. But then again since so many of us realize cuts make business sense maybe that's a sign they won't happen. Merck and good business sense don't always hold hands.

 

Part of Mercks 'at will' employment clause. Easy to can those with sleep drug as people are far below plan.

 

Don't think you'll hear until the very last second. Member of the dissolved CV team here. Company lied to us the entire time. Told us we would be okay..... "we can always add another drug to the bag, like Januvia and Janumet..." We were also told we would be part of a license agreement to sell agent for heart failure and pulmonary hypertension. They want you to put every ounce of blood, sweat, and tears into the job and they don't want you to lose focus. They are nothing but selfish pigs. Then when its convenient for them to cut you off, you get the phone call. We had a 4 hour notice and that was it. They will lie, lie, lie to you . Its definitely a different company now. All the while our trial lawyer CEO is cashing out on $24 million dollar stock. Its sickening. This has been the worst place to work for many years with a highly toxic culture-brought on by behaviors from the CEO on down to the local micromanagement style. Good luck. All I can tell you is that is a relief to be gone. There is life outside of this shit company and you'll find that out the minute youre not here. True story.

 

Bravo...truer words were never spoken...they will lie to you until the very end, and the end comes swiftly and unexpectedly. Lying is the Merck way...get used to it...

 

Thank you for your reply and encouragement. Glad your future is looking up! In retrospect, would you have taken a new job if you could have when Merck started doing its tap dance routine about adding more drugs, or is it worth staying for the package and then interviewing? Trying to figure out if I should start putting feelers for jobs out now, or if it would be better for my family if I stayed put until package if I'm on the cut list. Also curious what exists outside of pharma with our backgrounds. We know we have skills, but what other industries do? Our own company thinks we're fodder at this point.

 

I am a different CV rep here but I echo the same sentiments that the other CV representative wrote about previously. I also have a decent severance package and I am very glad to not be employed at Merck any longer. I found the experience of working at Merck suffocating and I know there are better work options out there because I have worked at better companies previously. If you can afford to move on you should consider it. Just my opinion.

 

There is life after Merck. Lots of good companies out there that are not as arrogant.

 

There is life after Merck. Lots of good companies out there that are not as arrogant.

 

Well, like an entire thread says "Merck is the Fu#$*&ng Shi$s" Its true. And you don't realize it until its over. Then people tell you exactly what they think of the company. Our daughter-in-law, who is a nurse and whose parents are physicians, told me when they heard what happened to the CV team "its okay-you'll find something better. Merck does not have a very good reputation." I was surprised to hear that comment. Really? And they assumed me that it's true. All I can tell you is that I interviewed for a position and was asked to join this particular company 2 weeks ago. Its outside pharma and its outside healthcare. I did not take it only because its not a lifestyle that fits with me right now. It required working every night except Friday and Sunday. But, it was only 2 calls a day-which were leads already generated from inside-which take 90 minutes per appointment. The #2 sales person who's been with them for just over a year made $115,000. That might not sound very good but he lost his wife and that put him behind the 8-ball and out of commission for a while. He also needed chemo but didn't have cancer(?). He didn't work for 3 months. You can definitely make money in other industries. If you can put up with the crap, and the especially the PC crap-burger managers who think that they only know what a "team" is, then stay for as long as you can. They will drag you down to a lower level though. And they truly bring no value. Not the PC managers at Merck anyway. They are mind-numbed robots who have to read off a script for questions to ask job candidates because they can't think for themselves. And they are the extension of upper management, which means they don't tell you the truth. Most of them worked their way up by browning, not by accomplishment. At least thats what the local CTL did here. Stick it out, and hope that the company doesn't change the separation package. They already have. When I knew I was gone, it was an awesome feeling to toss all Merck crap in the garbage where it belongs. And now I don't have to worry about worthless, idiotic PC managers working with me in the field, offending customers, asking stupid questions, bringing nothing to the table, etc. I don't have to brown it. Get it brown? And I don't have to worry about guys in women's bodies backstabbing and gossiping, and their drama. We've got the drama queen of the universe right in my home city. Its been a great run. And now its over, and I couldn't be more please. Good luck with your choice. Hope it all works out for you.

 

Member of retired CV team here. That is the most egregious act of all-for a CEO to get that amount of money while others are losing their employment. And there is no outrage. There is nothing to be done about it. I feel as though it should be front page news. The good little liberals-of which our CEO is a part of-should see the double standard that they hold conservative too. Here we have an Obama supporter and we have someone cashing out-at the expense of cutting jobs. I don't get it.

I do believe your comment about the toxic work culture is accurate. Its gotten progressively worse with time, and our DCO seemed to foster that kind of work environment(MD.) I don't know what my future will be but we have all developed a set of selling skills that will work in many industries. The problem is the reputation of Merck. I didn't know it was as poor as it is.

To the above poster asking to stay or consider other options, I would suggest you know all your financial numbers. Know what your pension model looks like at certain ages. Maybe you don't need to work for as long as you thought. And knowing the financials can help you look for a certain type of job in the future. Maybe your bills aren't as high as they used to be. Maybe there are, I don't know. Just knowing the financial picture helped solve the unknown to me. And like previous poster said, the company can and might make changes to the severance package at a future time. The place really does wreak. Glad to be at the end of my career because I wouldn't want to be doing this job in mid-life years, or earlier. There is no future in big pharma. Not long term anyway.

Good luck

 

Does upper management read this board anymore? Are they going to hide from us until October? Please let us know sooner than later. Look at how many views on the Merck site! Everyone is ready and waiting to hear something. Do you think anyone is really going to put in more than the barest minimum with all this chatter?

 

Like an earlier poster said, they know all about it but they don't care about you, period. They wont show their hand. They want to get as much out of you before they cut you loose. They do read it, but they don't care. In fact, they might even use posts like these to counter what is being said to throw everyone off. Gives them a better story to lie about. They've done it for years. I wont say it, but Merck really is the fuc......shi.......

 

It is a fine day indeed when investors are rewarded by cutting unneeded nonproductive labor especially on Labor Day. Go Merck!

 

Poster #11 here, who asked for advice. Thanks to all the responders. I'm going to update resume over the long weekend and start testing the waters. Imagine being in a job where you aren't looking over your shoulder every week for looming cuts and where you can actually use your brain again. If I can find that with adequate pay and benefits I'll take it. If not I'll do the package. Best of luck to everyone!!

And to the "investor" who keeps celebrating the upcoming cuts on every thread on here, ad nauseum: Stop using so much of your parents' data plan on CP posts, and remember to put your zit cream on every night.