This is public knowledge: like a number of big bio/pharma companies, Amgen is facing patent expiration on many of its biggest money-makers over the next 2-3 years, cutting income by some 40% with nothing in the product pipeline to replace those products in time...there are going to be some years where the company can't make ends meet. So Amgen is enacting a series of significant layoffs to reduce costs to a similar degree. And that's just what I can tell you based on publicly-available information. Amgen does these layoffs in chunks so they don't make the news, because they treasure their "employer of choice" image.
Day-to-day operations...and more importantly, the annual and semi-annual review process...are controlled by HR. Meaning HR tells the manager what to write in the review, and if the manager balks, HR makes it clear the manager's own position is at risk if they do not comply.
The company leadership points to a "social architecture" component called the "Amgen Values". These are traits identifying how to behave like a good person while getting work done. But senior management itself does not demonstrate these values. Starting with some Directors, then the majority of Executive Directors, and the entirety of VPs and above, they lie, bully, fight, and put underlings "under the bus" to avoid having their own career damaged.
The company HQ in Thousand Oaks is geographically isolated, 50 miles outside Los Angeles. There are no other major employers in the area. If you move your family out here, and things don't work out, you may find yourself pulling up stakes and moving again.
The company's management structure can only be described as turbulent. Hardly any executive has the job they had two years prior.
The CIO has been in the company for some time but in the CIO role for less than two years. She does not demonstrate an understanding of how I.T. works, and shows no technical skills whatsoever, not even earlier in her career. The "big I.T. achievement" she showed off for 2012 wasn't even developed by I.T., and when handed over to I.T. for operational support, became a maintenance nightmare due to its poor design. She has not produced a single strategy or plan to improve actual I.T. capabilities in alignment with business goals.
Finally, her radical re-shuffling of personnel...she has replaced her entire direct-report leadership team in less than two years...reveals the traits she hires for most. If you're female and run or bike in the mountains, you have a career waiting for you at Amgen.
