Merck Research Labs in Boston

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Anonymous said:
So what is the culture like at Merck in Boston? I am excited to work near Fenway Park. Anybody work there and like it?
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Egads. run away screaming.

Smaller merck site means NO personal career.

THIS particular smaller merck site tends to laud the self-applauder and ass kisser, and NOT the worker who keeps their head down, works hard, and produces consistently.

THIS particular smaller merck site values visibility and loud-mouth behavior, not true lab skills.

I'm surrounded by self serving, manipulative, "me first" jerks.
 






Good luck to you. For the most part, I agree with the above poster.

MRL Boston lacks real leadership. Not sure where the passive aggressive behavior came from there. They are just trying to preserve what they have.
I don't feel like I can grow my career here.

But Boston has plenty of other opportunities.
 












Anonymous said:
Egads. run away screaming.

Smaller merck site means NO personal career.

THIS particular smaller merck site tends to laud the self-applauder and ass kisser, and NOT the worker who keeps their head down, works hard, and produces consistently.

THIS particular smaller merck site values visibility and loud-mouth behavior, not true lab skills.

I'm surrounded by self serving, manipulative, "me first" jerks.
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Funny...that's exactly how it is at HQ. It does not pay to work hard and be productive at Merck but to suck up in any form. No wonder Merck is going down the tubes - someone has to do the work! And it is those self-applauders and a** kissers that are promoted.

Ken F. -- please see the light. The culture at Merck needs to change starting at the top.
 












Anonymous said:
Funny...that's exactly how it is at HQ. It does not pay to work hard and be productive at Merck but to suck up in any form. No wonder Merck is going down the tubes - someone has to do the work! And it is those self-applauders and a** kissers that are promoted.

Ken F. -- please see the light. The culture at Merck needs to change starting at the top.
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Totally agree. This is how it is in Rahway as well. Self-applauders and a** kissers make everyone else do the work and take the credit for it while telling management how much better they are than the ones that actually did the work.
 
























Mark is doing some integration job. He has no connection to research at all anymore. Definitely some good people in Boston but alot of the decisions in basic research on the whole have just been awful across sites.
 






I'm sorry so see he is out of research. He is one of the good guys- he was liked and respected by his reports and his peers. I for one missed him. He has (had) an equanimity about him that evoked respect by all. Also, a great family man.
 


















The general attitude at MRL Boston is that nobody cares because there are plenty of high paying jobs in the area. Since the MRL pay is below the Boston pay norms, there hiring standards are very low and will pretty much take anybody who is reasonably qualified. Managament is stuck with a 100 year lease on the building, so nobody is afraid of losing their jobs.

Basically, the MRL Boston site is a big mistake and should never have been built there in the first place.
 






Anonymous said:
The general attitude at MRL Boston is that nobody cares because there are plenty of high paying jobs in the area. Since the MRL pay is below the Boston pay norms, there hiring standards are very low and will pretty much take anybody who is reasonably qualified. Managament is stuck with a 100 year lease on the building, so nobody is afraid of losing their jobs.

Basically, the MRL Boston site is a big mistake and should never have been built there in the first place.
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Not sure if I agree that they let just anyone in the door. I feel that they do choose good people and that the science going on (when it's not changed by more restructuring panic decisions from above) is actually quality science. But they are very academic, they laud kudos on the people that talk the loudest and who claim they've done xyz, all the while ignoring the people actually working. They value visibility as opposed to productiveness. They need to change that. They don't promote non-PhDs above a certain level, even when those people show amazing potential; they don't appreciate what they have if it doesn't fit into their preset ideas. They'll pigeon hole you, then tell you every year to become more visible to get any sort of promotion. So, some of the people leave for other biotech and pharma jobs in the area--maybe the pay is the same, maybe it's better, maybe it's worse: the point is they are happier elsewhere because other places promote and other places appreciate hard work as opposed to loud mouth posers. I can honestly say that we've lost a ton of good people due to lack of appreciation in terms of science and promotions, not money.

Oh, by the way, I wouldn't take that 100 year lease as ANY sort of reassurance of a continuing presence in Boston. The 100 year lease is NOT going to be an issue if MRK decides there is a need to close the site. There is always a buy out written into those contracts. It just all comes down to whether the buy out now is less costly than the long term lease. How many other sites were leased and are now no longer in the Merck family of sites? Come on--100 year lease looks strong on paper. But that's on paper.
 






Anonymous said:
.

Basically, the MRL Boston site is a big mistake and should never have been built there in the first place.
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Ah yes, a gift from Ray Gilmartin to Harvard!!
Where did fabulous Ray go after "retiring" from Merck??
Well what do you know!!??!! He got a teaching job at Harvard School of Business!!!
What a coincidence!!
His course title: Strategy to Destroy Pharmaceutical Companies
 






I think the problem with all of MRL is the rewarding of loudmouths. You generally have alot of people at all sites who sit back...talk like they have done so much....drink coffee with the right people and make themselves "indispensable." If you are someone that values science and actually does work, you can forgot about any level of respect. The people that get rewarded with things generally are lazy sacks of crap.
 






Anonymous said:
Oh, by the way, I wouldn't take that 100 year lease as ANY sort of reassurance of a continuing presence in Boston. The 100 year lease is NOT going to be an issue if MRK decides there is a need to close the site. There is always a buy out written into those contracts. It just all comes down to whether the buy out now is less costly than the long term lease. How many other sites were leased and are now no longer in the Merck family of sites? Come on--100 year lease looks strong on paper. But that's on paper.
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The lease isn't the issue it's the building Merck built on that land. If they walk away they'd need to abandon the value of that building. It's only 10 years old so it still has substantial value on their books. Unless they can get someone else to lease the facility, unlikely in this economy, Merck would incur an abandonment hit of several hundred million dollars. Not saying they'd never do it, but it's certainly not at the top of anyone's list for site closures.
 






Boston was destined to fail with Stephen Friend in charge of Oncology. He is academically brilliant but a complete idiot at drug discovery. Now, Oncology is shrinking rapidly with nothing in the early pipeline - looks ripe for a spin out / sell off. All that's left in Boston is the Immunology group that is made up of ex-Merck Frosst employees. They practically run the place and hold key positions. What a clique! It's a completely closed community and does not try to interact with other sites. My guess is that Frazier will take one look at the cost of keeping this drug-free zone open and close it. Like someone else said, Merck won't lose anything from this action.
 






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