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2012-Year of Severance-Less Than 12 Months to Wait

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Anonymous said:
That's too bad for you. I thought they would welcome everyone who want to leave, especially those with tenure and at a higher pay scale. What you are saying is Merck would prefer that you leave on your own w/o a severance package? I thought we are cash rich. Must be the SP merger is costing us more than they thought?
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I would watch out what you wish for. The best thing to do is to stay put for a little while. The economy is turning back down slowly. We should see better growth coming out of a recession. If it was only the USA it would be one thing, it slowing in China, Korea, and other geo’s. Inflation is starting to move quick (look at the I bond yields) and oil is going up because of the weak dollar, not because of a supply side issue (That is why OPEC is increasing production right now). The jobs that are getting created right now in the private sector are not high paying. I understand it sucks right now but just smile and take it for a while. Don’t get frustrated and let emotions get the best of you. Merck is not the only place that sucks right now. I have friend who work at other places and other industries and they are feeling it the same way we do. There is not much out there right now and living in Jersey, money moves out the door pretty quick.
 








Anonymous said:
I would watch out what you wish for. The best thing to do is to stay put for a little while. The economy is turning back down slowly. We should see better growth coming out of a recession. If it was only the USA it would be one thing, it slowing in China, Korea, and other geo’s. Inflation is starting to move quick (look at the I bond yields) and oil is going up because of the weak dollar, not because of a supply side issue (That is why OPEC is increasing production right now). The jobs that are getting created right now in the private sector are not high paying. I understand it sucks right now but just smile and take it for a while. Don’t get frustrated and let emotions get the best of you. Merck is not the only place that sucks right now. I have friend who work at other places and other industries and they are feeling it the same way we do. There is not much out there right now and living in Jersey, money moves out the door pretty quick.
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Very good advice. The grass always looks greener on the other side...but now is not the time to test it. It's sickening how expensive it is to live in NJ. High property taxes due to corruption, wastefulness and entitlements. Christie needs to do much, much more to turn this state around, if it's even possible to do.
 




Anonymous said:
No one making it to 10 years should complain...."giving the best years" is BS you have been charmed to be able to give so many years or to never be touched by layoffs...Take the full pension benefit and move on....plenty will be gone without making those pension benefits and be on the heels of retirement.....they gave the best too.
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Who is complaining? I was simply stating that after so many years of service (in which, yes, you did give the best years of your working life, i.e, your 30's and 40's), one should not quit and give up a severance package...especially if you are over 50 and not in a position to retire. In the end it is an individual decision, and not one to be judged by you or anyone else, except for the person making the decision who is looking out for their best interests. Certainly if you are in a position where you can quit and move on, then by all means do so! Do it tomorrow!!! But for those of us over 50 that have to continue working...just hang in there to the end.
 




Anonymous said:
Very good advice. The grass always looks greener on the other side...but now is not the time to test it. It's sickening how expensive it is to live in NJ. High property taxes due to corruption, wastefulness and entitlements. Christie needs to do much, much more to turn this state around, if it's even possible to do.
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Suburbs of NY, possibly worse...
 




Anonymous said:
Who is complaining? I was simply stating that after so many years of service (in which, yes, you did give the best years of your working life, i.e, your 30's and 40's), one should not quit and give up a severance package...especially if you are over 50 and not in a position to retire. In the end it is an individual decision, and not one to be judged by you or anyone else, except for the person making the decision who is looking out for their best interests. Certainly if you are in a position where you can quit and move on, then by all means do so! Do it tomorrow!!! But for those of us over 50 that have to continue working...just hang in there to the end.
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Very good advice. I had mixed feelings about Merck prior to my retirement. Then I realized Merck was no longer like the one when we were the most admired company. Merck is looking out for itself. I should also looking out for myself and get the best deal which I did.
 




Anonymous said:
Very good advice. I had mixed feelings about Merck prior to my retirement. Then I realized Merck was no longer like the one when we were the most admired company. Merck is looking out for itself. I should also looking out for myself and get the best deal which I did.
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Merck always looked out for Merck. That is the nature of the business. 25 years ago it was a well ran company with great thinkers. Everyone was happy and it showed in who we were. Now the company is a shell of what it once was. It started with upper management and the people at Merck tried to hold on as long as they could. Now it stinks from head to tail because of fear and ego's. We used to have something to believe in and it was more than a job.
 




Anonymous said:
Who is complaining? I was simply stating that after so many years of service (in which, yes, you did give the best years of your working life, i.e, your 30's and 40's), one should not quit and give up a severance package...especially if you are over 50 and not in a position to retire. In the end it is an individual decision, and not one to be judged by you or anyone else, except for the person making the decision who is looking out for their best interests. Certainly if you are in a position where you can quit and move on, then by all means do so! Do it tomorrow!!! But for those of us over 50 that have to continue working...just hang in there to the end.
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seriously? just because you are over 50 you are gonna just "phone it in" and stay in this cesspool of a company? You must think very little of your skills and abilities..sad...there is life after Merck, even after 50...isn't your dignity worth more than this paycheck??
 




Anonymous said:
seriously? just because you are over 50 you are gonna just "phone it in" and stay in this cesspool of a company? You must think very little of your skills and abilities..sad...there is life after Merck, even after 50...isn't your dignity worth more than this paycheck??
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Life under 50 is easy to find. 50 or over are having very tough times. This is a fact. If you think anything different you are out of touch with reality.
 








actually there was information out on people being hired and the younger people are having a harder time than the older people. It seems to be older people (kids are older), younger people (no kids) and then the 30-45 range is the hardest. I wish I had the link. The bigger issue are the jobs that are being created. They are not high paying jobs. Companies are chopping salaries because they are getting so many resumes per position. Trying to get a job between 80-130k is extremely hard and the interview process could take 3-5 months to get the job.
 




Anonymous said:
actually there was information out on people being hired and the younger people are having a harder time than the older people. It seems to be older people (kids are older), younger people (no kids) and then the 30-45 range is the hardest. I wish I had the link. The bigger issue are the jobs that are being created. They are not high paying jobs. Companies are chopping salaries because they are getting so many resumes per position. Trying to get a job between 80-130k is extremely hard and the interview process could take 3-5 months to get the job.
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Many older are taking up to 2 yrs. Anyone who has a job in 3-5 months has big time connections...rare for any professional to get a job that fast.
 




I agree that younger sales reps have more concerns than the 50+ crowd. Most people who are 50+ have been in this industry 15-25+ years while making a significant amount of income. They have homes paid off, huge 401k's and a fat pension. They have had multiple career and promotional opportunities in their career. Sure if you lose your job it will be tough to replace that same standard of living but you've made a ton of money for a number of years. For the reps who are 5-10 years into our careers we are screwed. We have salaries that are on avg. 25% lower than our esteemed colleagues and absolutely 0 opportunities to he promoted or increase our income. We are stuck unless we want to jump ship to another company and lose all tenure/severance pay. We have young families with many many expenses a 50+ year old rep doesn't have. I don't live outside my means but I don't feel sorry for the 50+ crowd because I know financially they are way better off than their younger colleagues. It sucks that we all wake up every morning just waiting for the next layoff announcement.
 




Anonymous said:
I agree that younger sales reps have more concerns than the 50+ crowd. Most people who are 50+ have been in this industry 15-25+ years while making a significant amount of income. They have homes paid off, huge 401k's and a fat pension. They have had multiple career and promotional opportunities in their career. Sure if you lose your job it will be tough to replace that same standard of living but you've made a ton of money for a number of years. For the reps who are 5-10 years into our careers we are screwed. We have salaries that are on avg. 25% lower than our esteemed colleagues and absolutely 0 opportunities to he promoted or increase our income. We are stuck unless we want to jump ship to another company and lose all tenure/severance pay. We have young families with many many expenses a 50+ year old rep doesn't have. I don't live outside my means but I don't feel sorry for the 50+ crowd because I know financially they are way better off than their younger colleagues. It sucks that we all wake up every morning just waiting for the next layoff announcement.
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Pardon me but you are dreaming. This is an over 50 year old with a very moderate income, a tiny 401K, very little savings, no pension, a big mortgage, high taxes, no history of a ton of money (geeeez) and still have school bills on the horizon. Younger colleagues are in a better spot than many in my age group. Many of us dont have the years ahead needed to make enought to ever retire and pay off debts. You forget with age come changes and often hardships...people get older, sickness causes bills, divorces wipe people out and yea, it all sucks. Dont think all people who are older have it made. It's aint true in many cases.
 




Anonymous said:
I agree that younger sales reps have more concerns than the 50+ crowd. Most people who are 50+ have been in this industry 15-25+ years while making a significant amount of income. They have homes paid off, huge 401k's and a fat pension. They have had multiple career and promotional opportunities in their career. Sure if you lose your job it will be tough to replace that same standard of living but you've made a ton of money for a number of years. For the reps who are 5-10 years into our careers we are screwed. We have salaries that are on avg. 25% lower than our esteemed colleagues and absolutely 0 opportunities to he promoted or increase our income. We are stuck unless we want to jump ship to another company and lose all tenure/severance pay. We have young families with many many expenses a 50+ year old rep doesn't have. I don't live outside my means but I don't feel sorry for the 50+ crowd because I know financially they are way better off than their younger colleagues. It sucks that we all wake up every morning just waiting for the next layoff announcement.
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Life inexperience or disorted thinking, maybe both.
 




Anonymous said:
I agree that younger sales reps have more concerns than the 50+ crowd. Most people who are 50+ have been in this industry 15-25+ years while making a significant amount of income. They have homes paid off, huge 401k's and a fat pension. They have had multiple career and promotional opportunities in their career. Sure if you lose your job it will be tough to replace that same standard of living but you've made a ton of money for a number of years. For the reps who are 5-10 years into our careers we are screwed. We have salaries that are on avg. 25% lower than our esteemed colleagues and absolutely 0 opportunities to he promoted or increase our income. We are stuck unless we want to jump ship to another company and lose all tenure/severance pay. We have young families with many many expenses a 50+ year old rep doesn't have. I don't live outside my means but I don't feel sorry for the 50+ crowd because I know financially they are way better off than their younger colleagues. It sucks that we all wake up every morning just waiting for the next layoff announcement.
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Agree that it is hard for the younger set.... because this isn't "the land of opportunity" that it once was....certainly not in pharma, but also not in general, whichever industry you look at. Everyone's cutting costs, outsourcing, etc., and the economy is bad (high unemployment, one month favorable news, the next month dismal; weak dollar, high gasoline prices, and on and on....)

As for the 50 and over crowd, it's a mixed bag. You do have those with substantial savings, no debt, great pensions awaiting them. But you also have those that do not see any light at the end of the tunnel. All depends on life circumstances...
 




There are so many variables. If you have been with Merck for 20+ years and 50+-year old, you should be okay. If you join Merck only recently when you are older, then it is a different story. Other variables can include life events such as huge medical bills, death, divorce, etc. Then personal habits. Some spend money like crazy and nothing to show even after 20+ years. Some are frugal and have a larger 401K to retire with. Living in a cheap rent state versus expensive, say, left coast or the northeast can be a factor too.
 




You can do all the right things and not have much of anything even at retirement. Much of what happens in life is circumstance....all you can do is to do your best and try to make the right decisions.
 




Anonymous said:
I agree that younger sales reps have more concerns than the 50+ crowd. Most people who are 50+ have been in this industry 15-25+ years while making a significant amount of income. They have homes paid off, huge 401k's and a fat pension. They have had multiple career and promotional opportunities in their career. Sure if you lose your job it will be tough to replace that same standard of living but you've made a ton of money for a number of years. For the reps who are 5-10 years into our careers we are screwed. We have salaries that are on avg. 25% lower than our esteemed colleagues and absolutely 0 opportunities to he promoted or increase our income. We are stuck unless we want to jump ship to another company and lose all tenure/severance pay. We have young families with many many expenses a 50+ year old rep doesn't have. I don't live outside my means but I don't feel sorry for the 50+ crowd because I know financially they are way better off than their younger colleagues. It sucks that we all wake up every morning just waiting for the next layoff announcement.
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Look at the bright side. If you're married, as you seem to be, two incomes are probably coming in. You're in a good spot with cash flow if a layoff happens. Without that other income life is much different....
 








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