Genentech, Inc.

There is a true sense of pride as an employee of a company that has been consistently ranked among Fortunes top 100 Companies to Work For in the last 12 consecutive years. The ROCHE/GNE family is making an effort to keep old traditions alive in the integration. Upper management has taken a strong initiative to hear what the employees are saying and making proper adjustments. I do get a sense that they are listening. Opportunities are plentiful; you just have to go get it. Dont be a complainer. New employees will probably experience the Genen-20 effect - Be prepared to hit the gym-its free anyhow. There is a collective effort by the executive team to recognize the success of teams and people throughout the company. I am also impressed with the number of recent graduates hired from top MBA schools.

Of course, with any integration comes change. Salaries are getting recalibrated to meet Roche standards-which could be good or bad. Nowadays, there seems to be a mixed crowd of people. Depending on the department, the old and true spirit of Genentech is lost and has become more mainstream corporate. While there are managers who embrace talent, there are many others who completely shun ideas of innovation and stick to old processes-and are trigger-happy. In my department, instead of focuses on moving forward, some people will only do work if its required by big bosses and in many cases they are not even the ones pulling the information together. WTH.