Genentech reviews

4.0

74% would recommend to a friend

(3,710 total reviews)
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Ashley Magargee

83% approve of CEO

55% positive business outlook

Genentech has an employee rating of 4.0 out of 5 stars, based on 3,710 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Genentech employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

4K reviews
5.0
Sep 13, 2010
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Genentech is focused on improving the lives of patients with serious and incurable diseases. Every employee can clearly see how they are contributing to this goal. It is a very fulfilling job with very competitive salaries and benefits packages.

Cons

Genentech was recently purchased by Roche pharmaceuticals. With this merger they grew overnight from an 11,000 person company to an 80,000 person company. The culture is quickly changing, work-life balance is becoming a thing of the past, and the focus of everyone's work is becoming unclear.

3.0
Sep 10, 2010

Very political, very hierarchical.

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Many smart, motivated employees - Interesting work - Desire to provide a work-life balance - The espresso machines

Cons

- Hierarchical - you simply had to understand that it was a caste system. When I joined the company this dynamic was becoming status quo, part and parcel of the company's absorption of "big pharma" culture. - Tendency to hire very overqualified people for roles, and keep them there for long periods of time - Limited array of roles - Bureaucratic - Highly decentralized HR with absolutely no power - The reality of work-life balance wasn't there for a lot of people. The travel demands for some roles were really gruelling. - Roche's entry has put a different type of pressure on the company, and is generating a lot of fearful and duplicitous behavior - including at senior management levels.

4.0
Sep 8, 2010

Pretty good.

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

OK. Attempts made to keep people happy very dependent on what group you're in. And who it is that you report to.

Cons

Much more bureaucratic than it used to be. Groups are very silo'd, and sharing of information is limited at times and inconsistent, which can be frustrating.

Viewing 3526 - 3528 of 3,710 Reviews

Glassdoor has 5,060 Genentech reviews submitted anonymously by Genentech employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Genentech is right for you.