2% Merit Increases!?!

[anonymous]

There are several posts here on Cafe Pharma discussing the culture at Bayer and whether or not one should consider working there. Let me be blunt: look elsewhere because the culture is terrible, and the compensation does not even meet yearly cost-of-living indexes. For example, the merit increase for this year is just 2%, and only 2.15% for exceptional performance! That is laughable, especially when you consider that the long-term incentive pays out at less than 50%, and the short-term incentive is also less than 100% year after year!

It's no wonder that talent constantly leaves and employees are disgruntled. We are expected to do the work of two or sometimes three jobs, all while the company continuously cuts positions and pays us poorly! They label the extra workload as rotations and short-term assignments, but it’s essentially a way to get us to do additional work for free.

Due to the company's current operational structure, there is little room for advancement. When someone leaves, their role is rarely filled, and employees are simply asked to take on the extra workload. This company is struggling, and those who stay do so only until they find something better, or because they are too complacent or lazy to look elsewhere.

 

[anonymous]

There are several posts here on Cafe Pharma discussing the culture at Bayer and whether or not one should consider working there. Let me be blunt: look elsewhere because the culture is terrible, and the compensation does not even meet yearly cost-of-living indexes. For example, the merit increase for this year is just 2%, and only 2.15% for exceptional performance! That is laughable, especially when you consider that the long-term incentive pays out at less than 50%, and the short-term incentive is also less than 100% year after year!

It's no wonder that talent constantly leaves and employees are disgruntled. We are expected to do the work of two or sometimes three jobs, all while the company continuously cuts positions and pays us poorly! They label the extra workload as rotations and short-term assignments, but it’s essentially a way to get us to do additional work for free.

Due to the company's current operational structure, there is little room for advancement. When someone leaves, their role is rarely filled, and employees are simply asked to take on the extra workload. This company is struggling, and those who stay do so only until they find something better, or because they are too complacent or lazy to look elsewhere.

This is SO WELL said and I completely agree with the commenter however I have so many talented colleagues who I have reached out to about opportunities at other companies that offer a SOLID merit increate 4-5% or more annually and paying 100% of the long and short term incentives as well as pay more in salary to do just 1 job not covering the many other they pile on us here yet they decide to stay here. Not sure why in such a toxic culture with limited growth with inadequate financial benefits, current employees are passing up thee better opportunities to stay here. I am not sure if they are just blinded by the reality or are they so complacent that the will continue to do the same thing over and over with no change yet complain about it. Its truly the safest culture i have ever been part of.

 

[anonymous]

This is SO WELL said and I completely agree with the commenter however I have so many talented colleagues who I have reached out to about opportunities at other companies that offer a SOLID merit increate 4-5% or more annually and paying 100% of the long and short term incentives as well as pay more in salary to do just 1 job not covering the many other they pile on us here yet they decide to stay here. Not sure why in such a toxic culture with limited growth with inadequate financial benefits, current employees are passing up thee better opportunities to stay here. I am not sure if they are just blinded by the reality or are they so complacent that the will continue to do the same thing over and over with no change yet complain about it. Its truly the safest culture i have ever been part of.

what I meant to say was this is the strangest culture I have ever been part of.Bayer does not have a good outlook.

 

[anonymous]

what I meant to say was this is the strangest culture I have ever been part of.Bayer does not have a good outlook.

It's almost amusing to observe just how disconnected our leadership seems from reality. Recently, they announced a meager 2% merit increase, which, in the context of rising costs and increasing workload, falls far short of what is needed to motivate employees. In an effort to mask this disappointing raise pool, management has resorted to forming various project teams, which, in truth, offer little more than busywork. The latest initiative, humorously dubbed "Good to Great," stands in stark contrast to the actual environment we find ourselves in—a culture that seems to be deteriorating from bad to worse.



These ineffective leaders, driven by the need to project an image of progress without enacting real change, create these superficial teams. They serve merely as a checklist item for leaders, allowing them to check off their (PMP’s) obligations while contributing nothing of genuine value to our work experience or organizational effectiveness. The underlying culture encourages employees to do just the minimum required because there's a pervasive lack of incentives to strive for more. This approach leads to an atmosphere where mediocrity is not only accepted but almost rewarded, resulting in disengaged staff and stagnant growth. Bayer is destined to be nothing more than mediocre company.

 

[anonymous]

This is SO WELL said and I completely agree with the commenter however I have so many talented colleagues who I have reached out to about opportunities at other companies that offer a SOLID merit increate 4-5% or more annually and paying 100% of the long and short term incentives as well as pay more in salary to do just 1 job not covering the many other they pile on us here yet they decide to stay here. Not sure why in such a toxic culture with limited growth with inadequate financial benefits, current employees are passing up thee better opportunities to stay here. I am not sure if they are just blinded by the reality or are they so complacent that the will continue to do the same thing over and over with no change yet complain about it. Its truly the safest culture i have ever been part of.

The reason is you have to prove yourself in any new company. People at Bayer have been too Bayerized ways of working and cannot really work elsewhere. LIFE ways (pre DSO) is a joke and people were simply relaxing and counting on competency of vendors than performing. "Talented" at Bayer is suck up and perception, they know it and hence will not take a job outside. Really talented ones are already out.