Big disparity exists. Making salary levels fair and advancement opportunities available is the only way to retain greatest talents.
Making salary levels fair ... hmmmmm what do we mean here?
Last I looked, America has not yet fallen totally into the socialist mindtrap of "to all according to their needs".
How about the good old capitalist (and Sales, by the way) mantra of "to all according to what they deliver"?
SGP folk were paid more because they SOLD. MRK folk were (on average) paid less because they DEVELOPED "RELATIONSHIPS" WITH THE CUSTOMERS FOR WHOM THEY LIVED TO SERVE. The people selling generated revenue, the NCMers fed the mental masturbation that epitomizes their corporate leadership's strategic thinking.
Now, Mother can say what she wishes about motivation, but anyone tracking her increasingly incontinent behavior might reasonably assume that she sees variability in existing salaries as yet another COST-CUTTING INITIATIVE TO PLACE SQUARELY ON THE BACKS OF HER MOST PRECIOUS ASSETs.
Way to go ... I suspect that, while the short-term financial gains of these decisions will enrich our executives (and short-term stockholders) nicely, the same decisions are, systematically, eating away at the long-term prospects for Merck. When your staff realises that your are feeding on them, they may just rebel.
To ALL in Merck Sales (and, for that matter, Merck): If you are vested in the retirement benny's all the best to you ... the hell you live day-to-day may still seem worth retaining the retirement freedom you have dreamed of most of your adult lives (for your sake, I hope you are correct). If, however, you are not vested, I would sincerely recommend that you divest yourself of the fantasy that Mother will be a viable Corporate entity by the time you currently plan to take your retirement benefits. Even is she still exists, the trend is pretty darn clear: your benefits package will be significantly reduced (salary, bonus, medical & dental, options(LOL), RSUs, PSUs, retention bonuses education assistance, freedom to take vacation when you wish, free use of car, and, of course, the nicely branded tchochkes ... ALL of them)
I personally believe that Mother will not exist long enough for you to collect ANY of the long-term benefits that they have chosen to dishonestly dangle in front of us for so many years. I'm just hoping she does long enough for me to take the lump-sum when my day comes.
It's hard to believe the passion I once felt working for the nasty and largely incompetent (yet well-dressed) people that are at the helm of what was once a fine organization.
