And The Best BioPharma Employer Is…
14 CommentsBy Ed Silverman // October 11th, 2007 // 2:24 pm
Boehringer-Ingelheim. That’s right, a new survey in Science magazine determined that the European drugmaker scored best on nearly two dozen important criteria and, as a result, switched places with Genentech in the annual ranking.
The six most important driving characteristics: doing important quality research; a clear vision toward the future; being an innovative leader; treating employees with respect; having work culture values aligned with personal values; having loyal employees and being socially responsbile. Here is the complete article.
So who voted? There were 3,517 respondents surveyed between May 2 and June 6. Although this appears recent, we wonder if Amgen would have ranked as high last month, after a restructuring was announced. The participants were asked to rank companies based on financial strength, easy adaption to change and a research-driven environment. In the end, 63 percent voted their own employers as best. And almost a third say it is at least fairly likely they would seek a new job within a year.
Look closely at the list and you’ll see every big pharma name but one.* Do you know who’s missing?
1 - Boehringer Ingelheim
2 - Genentech
3 - Amgen
4 - Schering-Plough
5 - Genzyme
6 - Novartis
7 - DuPont
8 - Monsanto
9 - AstraZeneca
10 - Johnson & Johnson
11 - Eli Lilly
12 - Glaxo
13 - Millenium
14 - Merck
15 - Wyeth
16 - Gilead
17 - Biogen Idec
18 - Roche
19 - Abbott
20 - Bristol-Myers Squibb
[UPDATE: * - We now confess this was a trick question. There are two missing].
Chris
P*iz*r?
Michael D. Miller, MD
Pfizer’s not on the list…. what’s up with that? They must rank somewhere??? I worked there in the mid-late 1990s, and while there has been lots of turmoil and turnover, there are still lots of good people working there - but I don’t really know about Europe…. So why aren’t they even on the list?
Ed Silverman
Yes, you are both correct. I’ve no idea why Pfizer is not on the list. But for your efforts, you win a free subscription to Pharmalot :)
ed
Atlex
If you go back and look at past years, Pfizer was typically ranked no worse than 10th or 11th. I suspect the turmoil specific to the research organization over the past few months has driven this. Remember, thousands of researchers were either let go had to move to other parts of the country/world to maintain their jobs. Moreover, many research areas were altered or dropped. If I was at Pfizer I’d be disappointed, but not terribly surprised.
Insider
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/7039131.stm
Oh dear…. that is bad timing!
Cheers
Jack
Pharma News 10_12 « Impactiviti blog
[...] is the best Biopharma employer? See how your company [...]
Mike
Maybe I have a blindspot, but it looks like sanofi-aventis is missing as well.
Ed Silverman
Hi Mike
No blindspot. That was a trick question. And so you also win a free subscription to Pharmalot :)
Seriously, I was wondering when someone would identify the ‘other’ answer. Thanks for doing so.
Have a nice weekend,
ed at Pharmalot
R Johnson
Pfizer got no votes from the 1000+ (former) employees in Ann Arbor who were cut or moved despite their good work.
Karen
While Pfizer may not be on the top of a lot of outsiders places to work, it is too bad that the outside world is unaware that even through site closures the global organization was able to retain over 48% of the impacted employee base! (and yes a large potion of those employees came from Ann Arbor) So should that say something for what a great place it is to work?
Apophenia
Karen,
Correction: No, a large portion of the “impacted base” did not come from AA. Less than 1/3 (a little under 800) of Ann Arbor Pfizer employees were retained within the company, according to Pfizer. The original promise at the Jan 22 announcement was “70% would be offered positions within the company”, later amended to “a substantial number” which became “less than 40%”. 1/3 left the state for other companies, 1/3 are sticking around Ann Arbor. Some are starting their own companies.
Amazing to see such a talented group of people let go. The people responsible for most of the hits at Parke Davis were not retained. Rumor is no chemist over 40 was offered a job within the organization. The shutdown has cost them 3 times what they thought it would save.
I expect Pfizer to fail and fail big time over the next 5 years. They bailed on A2 because they have absolutely no idea how to run a drug discovery program and were befuddled by the people who did. They bought 2 companies within 5 years for their pipelines and preceded to kill everything in development because they just would not recognize a winner if it bit them on the ass. As a former employee who worked during the PD/PFE integration, it was absolutely puzzling to all of us how this company could ever get a drug to market. In my conversations with former Pharmacia/Serle employees, they observed the same thing - how does this company stay in business?
Pfizer’s primary business is not pharmaceuticals, but retaining a herd of lawyers to defend and extend patents.
That is why you do not see them on the list.
Anna
I’m not sure which is missing - therefore no subscription prize - but I would be interested in who voted and what the criteria were. I read the Indystar.com comment section and there are an awful lot of Lilly workers who are disgruntled, worried about job security, and angry at perks reduced. If it was the public voting, I would have voted for Lilly to be placed at number twenty, having lost my child to Zyprexa.
Ed Silverman
Hi Anna,
To answer your question about the voting, the survey was conducted by Science magazine which, as the title implies, is largely read by scientists, as opposed to, say, marketers, IT, legal staff, sales reps, and so on. And the view from the ‘bench’ is, often, different enough than elsewhere. That’s not to say there are disgruntled scientists in big pharma or biotechland these days, given the cutbacks and increased pressures.
I hope this helps. And I’m sorry about your loss.
Regards
ed at Pharmalot
Henry
I worked in Pfizer (Asia) for more than 6 years since merger with Warner Lamber. All of the previous sales and marketing employees left the company. The staffs turnover rate is high, the company is not like what people think or what they see in the reports or survey. What’s happening inside the company is just the opposite.