And so another week ends... Sigh.

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Anonymous

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And I still haven't been downsized. Please, please, please - someone, just put me out of my misery. Give me a package, I'll go away happily and quietly. I'll even send a "thanks for the great opportunity" Email saying an emotional good bye rather than the "so long, suck town!" Email I REALLY want to send. Please, ineffectual senior leaders who only see the sameness in people, surely you see I'm not like you, that I sometimes color outside the lines, that I really am not Merck material. You know it, I know it. It's not you, it's me. You get to send me off where I don't taint the Stepford wives and I get a nice package.
 




Anonymous said:
And I still haven't been downsized. Please, please, please - someone, just put me out of my misery. Give me a package, I'll go away happily and quietly. I'll even send a "thanks for the great opportunity" Email saying an emotional good bye rather than the "so long, suck town!" Email I REALLY want to send. Please, ineffectual senior leaders who only see the sameness in people, surely you see I'm not like you, that I sometimes color outside the lines, that I really am not Merck material. You know it, I know it. It's not you, it's me. You get to send me off where I don't taint the Stepford wives and I get a nice package.
Click to expand...

You make a good point. Why not just ask, who wants to leave? After all, why have employees here who really dont want to be here? Keep who really works and who wants to stay on.
 




Anonymous said:
And I still haven't been downsized. Please, please, please - someone, just put me out of my misery. Give me a package, I'll go away happily and quietly. I'll even send a "thanks for the great opportunity" Email saying an emotional good bye rather than the "so long, suck town!" Email I REALLY want to send. Please, ineffectual senior leaders who only see the sameness in people, surely you see I'm not like you, that I sometimes color outside the lines, that I really am not Merck material. You know it, I know it. It's not you, it's me. You get to send me off where I don't taint the Stepford wives and I get a nice package.
Click to expand...

"suicide is painless, it brings on many changes, and I can take or leave it if I please, and you can do the same thing if you please"
 




You ask and the manager then initiate PIP on you to leave on your own without a package. He then earn a little brownie point for his own survival in saving the company $$ and reduce the headcount by one.
 












Anonymous said:
but I want my package!!
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you really have to ask yourself is it worth wasting another one or two years waiting for the package?? In the whole scheme of your life and "career" will it really make a difference? You are better off just leaving, taking the pain financially now, and re-training towards another industry or getting a new job...

Staying at Merck is for losers unfortunately...no matter what the "circumstances" are...

You will survive!
 




The sad thing is remember the re-org after the sp merger? That corporate ass clown on the web conference kept answering every question with "i don't know." Anyway, there were dozens of people who volunteered to leave and most of them were kept. Most of the people who were cut- wanted to stay.

The under lying message here is- the guys running this show would rather keep negative, burnt out reps who don't work over those who want to take initiave and kick ass. It probably factors into the executive bonus better and because they sit in the ivory tower- they don't have to manage the people who hate their jobs.

If you want to keep your job- volunteer for a package- that will seal the deal.
 




Anonymous said:
you really have to ask yourself is it worth wasting another one or two years waiting for the package?? In the whole scheme of your life and "career" will it really make a difference? You are better off just leaving, taking the pain financially now, and re-training towards another industry or getting a new job...

Staying at Merck is for losers unfortunately...no matter what the "circumstances" are...

You will survive!
Click to expand...

Unless you are over 55 and need time to get to 10 in I would leave. Package is probably peanuts compared to the losses and debts that build up without a job. I have already started to apply for non-pharma sales jobs.
 




I'm 56 with 30 years in but I'm thinking of sticking it out as long as I can. I have enough vacation and if things really piss me off, I can walk out the door with full retirement. Why shouldn't I stick around if I want to?
 




Anonymous said:
I'm 56 with 30 years in but I'm thinking of sticking it out as long as I can. I have enough vacation and if things really piss me off, I can walk out the door with full retirement. Why shouldn't I stick around if I want to?
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Agree....would love to be in your shoes! I have about 2 more years to get there....unless Merck cuts me loose before then...which is what I am hoping for and dreaming of every day. I'm sure there are many like us in the sales force....just waiting for the right time to go, either with a "package", or "full retirement" such as yourself. This company/environment does not resemble in any way, shape or form what we signed up for many years ago...I'm thankful to be an "old fart", who sees the light at the end of the tunnel...unlike our younger counterparts.
 




Anonymous said:
I'm 56 with 30 years in but I'm thinking of sticking it out as long as I can. I have enough vacation and if things really piss me off, I can walk out the door with full retirement. Why shouldn't I stick around if I want to?
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FYI - "full retirement" doesn't kick in until you're 62 - you're docked 3% for each year before that on your payout. That said, agree you should stick it out as long as possible / financially necessary but be aware it won't be "pretty"...
 




Anonymous said:
I'm 56 with 30 years in but I'm thinking of sticking it out as long as I can. I have enough vacation and if things really piss me off, I can walk out the door with full retirement. Why shouldn't I stick around if I want to?
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"I'm thinking of sticking it out as long as I can..."

Well, Jerck & Co has been on the skids since the late '80s an hit the wall of arrogance with its inability to cope with good, clean competition with Lipitor.

Do the math. You have been in the field for at least half the time. Like it or not, your "sticking it out" is part of the problem. So many who know better have chosen expedience over honor by not speaking up when necessary, and have therefore contributed mightily to Jerck & Co's decline.

You and all the lifers add NO VALUE AT ALL to the attempt to right the ship at Jerck & Co., as you have no contextual knowledge at all about how ethical, nimble, high performance companies operate.

You should retire and get out of the way, for your good and the good of Jerck & Co. We don't need any more ticks on the dying dog.
 




Anonymous said:
you really have to ask yourself is it worth wasting another one or two years waiting for the package?? In the whole scheme of your life and "career" will it really make a difference? You are better off just leaving, taking the pain financially now, and re-training towards another industry or getting a new job...

Staying at Merck is for losers unfortunately...no matter what the "circumstances" are...

You will survive!
Click to expand...

I agree- I held out as long as I could waiting for the package- Then it just became too unbearable- I debated for a long time and decided that life was too short- What if I waited another few months and didn't get the package- Then I would be stuck another 6 mos to a year waiting for the next cut working for a jerk that just wanted to make himself look good at my expense.
Just get out before you get PIP'ed out- Leave before they make you leave-
I realized that I needed to start learning a new industry- Quit wasting time- Every year that you stay is that much more time wasted when you could actually have a REAL job!
The real world is a much better place-
If you think that Merck is going to change and get better than the joke is on you!!!
 




Anonymous said:
I agree- I held out as long as I could waiting for the package- Then it just became too unbearable- I debated for a long time and decided that life was too short- What if I waited another few months and didn't get the package- Then I would be stuck another 6 mos to a year waiting for the next cut working for a jerk that just wanted to make himself look good at my expense.
Just get out before you get PIP'ed out- Leave before they make you leave-
I realized that I needed to start learning a new industry- Quit wasting time- Every year that you stay is that much more time wasted when you could actually have a REAL job!
The real world is a much better place-
If you think that Merck is going to change and get better than the joke is on you!!!
Click to expand...

People, if you only internalize one post on CP in your lifetime, this is the one...this person gets it...Merck reps hang on, in the hope that things will get better, but they only get worse...Leave and learn a new industry...get a job in the real world ASAP!! Yes, you won't make near as much money...Yes, you will not be coming home at 3 or spending rainy monday mornings in bed...But you will get freedom from a corrpupt, depressing scam of a job....Pharma sales is truly a racket...A Ponzi scheme that makes the executives rich, the middle managers, very comfortable, and everyone else gets hosed...

Get out now, and start re-training for something new...The time is ultimately to precious to be wasting doing meaningless Merck busy work.
 




I have to throw my 2 cents in here. Let's face it, a lot of really good reps end up getting PIPd somewhere along the way, especially if you're simply not favored by your jackass DM. Say you want to leave really badly (who doesn't??); want a package but don't know if you'll ever get it, and can't take it anymore. Personally, once I got on my first and only PIP (after more than 13 successful years with the company. Imagine that), I didn't fight it. I didn't fight for a job I hated; just decided to do the hard thing and let it ride. If I quit, like I REALLY wanted, I would've had no severance and no unemployment to help out while job-hunting (which, btw, does take a very long time these days). You have to have some intestinal fortitude to go the route I did, but I basically ignored/defied the PIP, reported to HR that the mgr who put me on it was a liar, and gave the details (b/c, yes, there was some seriously shady lying going on); of course HR pretty much sided with mgt (but didn't matter at that point...I was getting out one way or another), and just continued working normally until the PIP came up and I let myself get let go. I got severance and was also able to collect unemployment.
Not for everyone, I know. Many people couldn't fathom letting that happen, but I did what I had to do, both for my own sanity and for the extra cash I was going to need to start over somewhere else (outside pharma!!). Just a thought folks. Future employers don't need to know what happened; will probably just assume you were laid off anyway.
It's a difficult thing to let happen to yourself, especially if you've been a pretty stellar employee your whole life, and you hate to think the company or mgr thinks they got the best of you, but honestly... I didn't feel that way so much b/c I let the DM know that I did this thing MY way, and that I was happy with the outcome. And I was.
Do what you have to do. It's not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things.
My health (mentally and physically) improved dramatically after I was gone. Good luck to all who want out. I feel for you all. Peace.
 




Anonymous said:
I agree- I held out as long as I could waiting for the package- Then it just became too unbearable- I debated for a long time and decided that life was too short- What if I waited another few months and didn't get the package- Then I would be stuck another 6 mos to a year waiting for the next cut working for a jerk that just wanted to make himself look good at my expense.
Just get out before you get PIP'ed out- Leave before they make you leave-
I realized that I needed to start learning a new industry- Quit wasting time- Every year that you stay is that much more time wasted when you could actually have a REAL job!
The real world is a much better place-
If you think that Merck is going to change and get better than the joke is on you!!!
Click to expand...

"Get busy dying or get busy living." Shawshank redemtion.
Merck really is an asinine joke. My first two managers were pharmacists and multiple presidents club winners and I always recieved Excellent ratings every year from both. Then I got a new manager, no awards,no credentials (diversity hire? most likely) who literally didn't know how to put gas in her co. car - I'm not kidding. I got marginal ratings from her, until one day she PIP'd me. So what was the difference? My first two managers? Me? Or her? PIP didn't matter - laid off with 1,500 reps a year later. I won't lie. It's been tough. But I'm employed,sane, and I don't miss merck.
 




Anonymous said:
I have to throw my 2 cents in here. Let's face it, a lot of really good reps end up getting PIPd somewhere along the way, especially if you're simply not favored by your jackass DM. Say you want to leave really badly (who doesn't??); want a package but don't know if you'll ever get it, and can't take it anymore. Personally, once I got on my first and only PIP (after more than 13 successful years with the company. Imagine that), I didn't fight it. I didn't fight for a job I hated; just decided to do the hard thing and let it ride. If I quit, like I REALLY wanted, I would've had no severance and no unemployment to help out while job-hunting (which, btw, does take a very long time these days). You have to have some intestinal fortitude to go the route I did, but I basically ignored/defied the PIP, reported to HR that the mgr who put me on it was a liar, and gave the details (b/c, yes, there was some seriously shady lying going on); of course HR pretty much sided with mgt (but didn't matter at that point...I was getting out one way or another), and just continued working normally until the PIP came up and I let myself get let go. I got severance and was also able to collect unemployment.
Not for everyone, I know. Many people couldn't fathom letting that happen, but I did what I had to do, both for my own sanity and for the extra cash I was going to need to start over somewhere else (outside pharma!!). Just a thought folks. Future employers don't need to know what happened; will probably just assume you were laid off anyway.
It's a difficult thing to let happen to yourself, especially if you've been a pretty stellar employee your whole life, and you hate to think the company or mgr thinks they got the best of you, but honestly... I didn't feel that way so much b/c I let the DM know that I did this thing MY way, and that I was happy with the outcome. And I was.
Do what you have to do. It's not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things.
My health (mentally and physically) improved dramatically after I was gone. Good luck to all who want out. I feel for you all. Peace.
Click to expand...

I seriously wondered what future employers would think about a PIP- Would they have to know? How would they find out? It scared the heck out of me bc I knew I was going to have to look for a job in another industry and I didn't want that on my record- I had been with Merck 15 years- Got along with my co-workers and had decent numbers- Never had a problem before him and the unfortunate vaccine division- It was all based on subjective crap. I bailed before he got the chance to PIP me- But he had already driven me over the edge- I couldn't take another second, minute, hour, week, or year of his BS!
My family wanted me out just as bad as I wanted out! The stress level wasn't fair to them.
Sad thing is that once they get rid of one rep, then they just move on to another victim-
 




You sound like you are in the third grade and some teacher was threatening you with using your "permanent record" against you. US corporations now give no information about former employees and hiring companies are not likely to ask for it. The worst thing about this situation is not that total losers never carry their history with them but rather that prodigious talent get trapped by the the reality that too many folks are afraid to give feedback, good or bad, to candidates' prospective employers. However since turnover is huge in this industry, your reputation will be carried by word of mouth, or, in other words, rumor.
 




Under the guise of "talent management" your managers and directors review their workforce periodically. Since the company needs to reduce headcount, you can bet that one of the outcomes that is being driven is identification and elimination of the bottom "%". Most normal years the review is once-a-year and the cut figure is around 3-5%. These days it's as frequently as a call for reduction rolls down from the mountain and the % figure is nominally 10%. If the company has really hired well and invested in training and managing its resources, it can ill afford to let 10% go under the guise of poor performance. But PIP-to-firing is the only method that avoids a justified serverance payment. The real reason for letting most people go is that the business changes and the over-hiring under one initiative is exposed by later business reality. Performance is usually secondary during times like these. Car salesmen are subject to this 5-10% rule as a matter of course, but then the car sales companies do not invest huge resources into developing car salesmen. Truly technical industries could never hire and invest in their employees if they used an annual 10% rule. However, making obvious that the company will fire the truly incompetent - at any time - is both proper and serves to motivate those that do perform, especially when they are in their formative years. But this is a process that deals with individuals, not % or manpower budgets. Such a justified termination scheme is for normal, optimistic times and is being abused as an excuse during these wretched times.
 




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