Pros
They pay reasonably well. In areas not outsourced, there is much challenging work to do.
Cons
Have been a Merck a long time and the company has changed dramatically. Most significant change is in Sr. management. When I started, we had 5 or 6 VPs. Today there are 320+. Of course the increase in VPs can be accounted for when Merck went through a tremendous growth spell in the nineties. However in the last five years, we have been through multiple layoffs. But the layoffs did not impact Sr. management. They just keep on growing. There have been so many mishaps just in the last couple of years but there seem to be no consequences at the top -- just the worker bees feel the impact and lower level management. I use to be so proud to work for Merck -- I knew so many outstanding people with the highest level of ethics. It is sad to see where we are today.