Duck and Cover

[Anonymous]

Guess you have never been laid offf....it aint fun, money is tighter than tight and you cant make the bills...but any big pharma has big impact.

That was just a frustrated person. I almost can't blame the post. There is such a great amount of saturation of resumes right now in the pharma industry that it will be very hard for all of us. I know people who have had their resumes out for a while with not too much success. I know the end is coming for myself and a lot of merck friends. Just trying to figure out next steps.

 

[Anonymous]

stupid reply. Merck on resume is strong in the real world. Big pharma has weight.

You must not have been interviewing. But you will be, if you're lucky enough to land one. I could enlighten you as to the challenges ahead but you sound like the type of person who needs to learn them on your own.

 

[Anonymous]

I am an old HR person and I have seen this happen a few time. Don't worry about the total number of employees because that is extremely misleading. I have seen 10k layoff really become 25k and the headcount does not change much because they move the jobs to friendlier geographic regions. The bean counters look at $$$ and start an chain reaction.

75k is a very high number. It will be closer to 60k when it's all over. The big issue will be where they will be doing the hiring after the layoffs run it's course. Merck is in a ditch right now. They will layoff 30-40k total and bring it back to 65k by hiring overseas. That will really stink but I know how Merck operates.

The old Merck made you feel like you were family, the new Merck really turned in something else. I hope this is not true but my heart and Merck logic feels you are correct.

 

[Anonymous]

You must not have been interviewing. But you will be, if you're lucky enough to land one. I could enlighten you as to the challenges ahead but you sound like the type of person who needs to learn them on your own.

Have received a few headhunter calls.

 

[Anonymous]

Have received a few headhunter calls.

They are called talent acquisition specialist now and they call everyone. If they ask for money out of your pockets they are scam artists. There are many of them out there. Pharma jobs have dried up pretty well right now. Everyone is either laying off or on there way to start. I am hoping the market will open up soon.

 

[Anonymous]

Have received a few headhunter calls.

how exciting for you. getting a call from a headhunter is like,oh, the receptionist saying "Doctor there's another merck rep in the lobby."

 

[Anonymous]

how exciting for you. getting a call from a headhunter is like,oh, the receptionist saying "Doctor there's another merck rep in the lobby."

I know, but you don't have to post like a prick about it do you?? Whatever is eating at you, I hope it goes away and you feel better. Isn't that a better way to handle our anxieties and frustrations?

 

[Anonymous]

I work in HQ...participated in a meeting today with senior sales leadership. The plan approved by the board of directors last week is to reduce the sales force by 90% by the end of the year. This plan is set in stone and is not subject to change. Reductions will be based upon tenure...we will retain the 10% of representatives that most recently joined Merck. Good luck to all of my sales colleagues!!

 

[Anonymous]

I work in HQ...participated in a meeting today with senior sales leadership. The plan approved by the board of directors last week is to reduce the sales force by 90% by the end of the year. This plan is set in stone and is not subject to change. Reductions will be based upon tenure...we will retain the 10% of representatives that most recently joined Merck. Good luck to all of my sales colleagues!!

I call BS on this stinky post...

 

[Anonymous]

Straight up truth-
If Improve-it goes well there will be limited reductions on the cardio side. If fails to show benefit then massive cuts.
Respiratory is going to see huge cuts next year with singulair patent cliff, however if you were one of the reps who picked up diabetes than you should be ok. All of those reps were chosen based on competencies and are viewed as valuable by their manager.

Good luck and I hope the severance is nice. Pharma is on the edge and you will be better off getting out now.

 

[Anonymous]

Straight up truth-
If Improve-it goes well there will be limited reductions on the cardio side. If fails to show benefit then massive cuts.
Respiratory is going to see huge cuts next year with singulair patent cliff, however if you were one of the reps who picked up diabetes than you should be ok. All of those reps were chosen based on competencies and are viewed as valuable by their manager.

Good luck and I hope the severance is nice. Pharma is on the edge and you will be better off getting out now.

A week a year is severance.....worse severance I have ever heard of from any company. Unless you're legacy it's appaulling. Downright insulting especially in this economy when everyone will be out of work and strapped for money for so much longer.

 

[Anonymous]

I work in HQ...participated in a meeting today with senior sales leadership. The plan approved by the board of directors last week is to reduce the sales force by 90% by the end of the year. This plan is set in stone and is not subject to change. Reductions will be based upon tenure...we will retain the 10% of representatives that most recently joined Merck. Good luck to all of my sales colleagues!!

I have no love for the sales force but they bring in the revenue. They work for nothing and have produced results when the pipeline was strong. They do not make enough money to be overly concerned right now. Stop hitting the bottle. Merck has 2 major issues:
1. R&D has done a very poor job as far as creating any buzz for new products. I am not writing they are incompetent, nothing is there and I have no clue why. They sank billions and billions of dollars into it the last few years and nothing has came out of it. There is little choice but to make massive cuts in headcount because of their pay scale. The jobs will move to China and India at a pay decrease of 60%
2. A lot of drugs are coming off patent and making generic drugs in NJ and other high cost of living states is not cost effective. They will move it down south and into other GEO's around the world.
3. The SP merger was a bad move and now the pay scales are still out of whack. Any SP employee with 10 plus years of experience will be gone.
4. The economy is contracting again and new hires will take a 25% reduction in salary compared to 4 years ago. Why pay someone 100k if there is a person to take the exact same position for 75k. Also there is a very uncomfortable amount of outsourcing going on.

 

[Anonymous]

I have no love for the sales force but they bring in the revenue. They work for nothing and have produced results when the pipeline was strong. They do not make enough money to be overly concerned right now. Stop hitting the bottle. Merck has 2 major issues:
1. R&D has done a very poor job as far as creating any buzz for new products. I am not writing they are incompetent, nothing is there and I have no clue why. They sank billions and billions of dollars into it the last few years and nothing has came out of it. There is little choice but to make massive cuts in headcount because of their pay scale. The jobs will move to China and India at a pay decrease of 60%
2. A lot of drugs are coming off patent and making generic drugs in NJ and other high cost of living states is not cost effective. They will move it down south and into other GEO's around the world.
3. The SP merger was a bad move and now the pay scales are still out of whack. Any SP employee with 10 plus years of experience will be gone.
4. The economy is contracting again and new hires will take a 25% reduction in salary compared to 4 years ago. Why pay someone 100k if there is a person to take the exact same position for 75k. Also there is a very uncomfortable amount of outsourcing going on.

By sales people taking the contract jobs they created a market for these lousy pay positions.

 

[Anonymous]

A week a year is severance.....worse severance I have ever heard of from any company. Unless you're legacy it's appaulling. Downright insulting especially in this economy when everyone will be out of work and strapped for money for so much longer.

wah, wah, wah. A bunch of free loaders. Your job is 'at will.' That means you can leave or they can get rid of the position.

The fact that you want something more than 1 week/year of employment just proves you arent' worth keeping. You're like one of those government workers or union employees~always asking for more.

Get out now, open up a position for someone who is willing to work.

God, I can't wait until Christie, Walker and Ryan correct this country.

 

[Anonymous]

wah, wah, wah. A bunch of free loaders. Your job is 'at will.' That means you can leave or they can get rid of the position.

The fact that you want something more than 1 week/year of employment just proves you arent' worth keeping. You're like one of those government workers or union employees~always asking for more.

Get out now, open up a position for someone who is willing to work.

God, I can't wait until Christie, Walker and Ryan correct this country.

Such a heartless comment. Many Merck reps are Republicans and fiscally conservative and others are Democrats. Not sure which group you want Christie & Co. to "correct". Many put in a honest working day. You can debate the value of a rep's job these days. We can argue how Merck has reduced a fun job into nothing with all the expansion and restrictions.

You have to be very young or just lack of life experience. Sometimes people find themselves in a life situation not of their own choice. Older in life, kids in school, may just incur a huge medical bill due to illness, have to help a family member, etc. can make a person not able to leave a job that easily. If you are losing a job and in one of the above scenarios, there is nothing wrong in wishing for a larger package to help make the transition. People who have put in many years and helped build Merck should not be ashamed to be treated with dignity and a decent package when Merck discards them "at will". I am a die-hard Republican but would not support Christie (who has way too many free lunches at others' expenses over the years in being overweight) and others if this is how they think.

 

[Anonymous]

.....Sometimes people find themselves in a life situation not of their own choice...

Sorry dude, everything is 'your choice.' You may not like the choice but you still have choices and they are always 'yours.'

Tough luck for the position that anyone put themself in. But, don't ask for me to pay for it.

It is high time that my taxes went down and stop supporting the do nothing government employees and/or the free loaders on Welfare/SS/Medicaid/Medicare.

As far as union workers, they all sit around an do nothing but collect a high salary. Fire them all!

If you don't like the job-leave. The door opens both ways. That is free market. Anything else is socialism and we all know where that gets us.

 

[Anonymous]

wah, wah, wah. A bunch of free loaders. Your job is 'at will.' That means you can leave or they can get rid of the position.

The fact that you want something more than 1 week/year of employment just proves you arent' worth keeping. You're like one of those government workers or union employees~always asking for more.

Get out now, open up a position for someone who is willing to work.

God, I can't wait until Christie, Walker and Ryan correct this country.

Hows you position? Secure? The truth is most major corporations do provide severance of at least a minimum of 2 weeks per year. Slightly more to those in higher management and those who are at higher salaries. Ironically it is the lower paid worker who needs that extra time and compensation because they do not have the financial resources as do upper management employees.

I hope that when your time comes you will only take 1 week for each year...even if you are offered more....return it to them explaining that you would not want to be a hypocrite and that you would not want to be seen as a freeloader....

PS I am a fan of Christie and company...and free everything that is part of the entitlement mentality does not apply here. We are not compensated at the level of union workers. We are never protected as they are and we are not milking the system...in this case it is what is ethically right to do for faithful, hardworking employees who want to keep their jobs and do honorable work each day.

Proverbs, 29:23 (Pride and Arrogance)
A man's pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.

May your rigid, angry spirit soften as you age.....

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry dude, everything is 'your choice.' You may not like the choice but you still have choices and they are always 'yours.'

Tough luck for the position that anyone put themself in. But, don't ask for me to pay for it.

It is high time that my taxes went down and stop supporting the do nothing government employees and/or the free loaders on Welfare/SS/Medicaid/Medicare.

As far as union workers, they all sit around an do nothing but collect a high salary. Fire them all!

If you don't like the job-leave. The door opens both ways. That is free market. Anything else is socialism and we all know where that gets us.

Perhaps you are referring to paragons of socilaism such as:

1.Norway
2.Denmark
3.Finland
4.Australia
5.New Zealand
6.Sweden
7.Canada
8.Switzerland
9.Netherlands

Or perhaps the paragon of happiness is the distinctly non-socialist:

10. United States.

This is a list of the top-ten happiest countries in the world. Please turn off ESPN, get out of the suburbs, and go see for yourself what quality of life can be. Quality of life isn't coming out of any idea from Wall Street, the Tea Party, or those heroes Christie, Walker, and Ryan. And while you're out traveling, go visit India, China, and Bangladesh and see generally happy countries with all those people working jobs in your world of "true capitalism" are. The US has had a huge advantage in wealth for the last 70 years. During that time it built up an educated work force that was the envy of the world. And during most of that the income tax rates were far more "socialist" than they are today. Companies made money and the middle class was happy. During the last 30 years, tax rates are about as low as ever, and companies are sitting on hordes of cash but feel no obligation to create jobs in the US. And most Americans are less happy than their parents. There are great divides developing in the US that are not seen in any truly happy country on earth. When I see good, hard-working, valuable people suddenly shown the door at companies like Merck, without any chance to engage in job transfers or re-training, I cannot see how this version of new capitalism that you are so enthusiastic about is going to make the US a better, happier, or even safer place. Demand value from your socialism. Fix the schools and the health care system. Make old age for seniors secure. Make someone happy besides yourself. Or else all that money you save might get spent on privatized prisons and rottweiler food.

 

[Anonymous]

Well said. Some one much more insightful than me would have to give the defintive answer on what our system now "is." But it's not "capitalism" or even "socialism." What is it when an entire society is built for the express benefit of so few? When large corporations who,cut corners and commit out and out fraud are rescued by a governmet who declares them "too big to fail" ( as opposed to "built to last")? Who was helped by the stimulas,TARP and bailouts? Certainly not the bulk of society. The only ones rescued were the ceo's, wall street types and politicians who created the mess while the poor schmucks who work and pay taxes were left holding the bag while they were shown the door to look for new jobs that no longer exist except maybe overseas. Reagan once ask: "Are you better off today than you were before?" Now the more valid question is: "Will your children be better off than you?" How many of us still really believe that we are "up wardly mobile?" Or honestly can rise based on merit in a corporation like merck? Yet we see indivduals who "game" the system and profit. The only "socialism" I see is national socialism (you know-nazis?) were the top of the pyramid is very very skinny and the stairs are very very slippery. Is merck even really in the healthcare (you know, bettering mankind while making a profit) business anymore?

 

[Anonymous]

Hows you position? Secure? The truth is most major corporations do provide severance of at least a minimum of 2 weeks per year. Slightly more to those in higher management and those who are at higher salaries. Ironically it is the lower paid worker who needs that extra time and compensation because they do not have the financial resources as do upper management employees.

I hope that when your time comes you will only take 1 week for each year...even if you are offered more....return it to them explaining that you would not want to be a hypocrite and that you would not want to be seen as a freeloader....

PS I am a fan of Christie and company...and free everything that is part of the entitlement mentality does not apply here. We are not compensated at the level of union workers. We are never protected as they are and we are not milking the system...in this case it is what is ethically right to do for faithful, hardworking employees who want to keep their jobs and do honorable work each day.

Proverbs, 29:23 (Pride and Arrogance)
A man's pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.

May your rigid, angry spirit soften as you age.....

Actually, most companies cannot afford to give 2 weeks/year anymore. Take a look around they've trimmed the package. As far as 'slightly' more benefits for the higher management, again-take a look around. Look what Fast Freddie got when he left. A package that was well beyond his worth.

But, go ahead and keep talking about your entitlement. You're the only one who works hard and deserves the extra week. Union workers-well, they're all lazy and overcompensated.

Funny, it is always the 'other guy' that is squeezing the system. Never oneself.

Sales people are overpaid. When we start farming out the jobs to contract reps the better the bottom line is for this company. Cut the fat salaries, the benefits and bonuses.

And if you're truly a fan of Christie then you won't mind it so much as the cuts come here-remember, it is a time of pain all around. Time you felt some.