Genentech/Roche's amazing caste system
Pros
Supervisors and upper management are focused on being relate-able and understanding. Employee recognition is highlighted and there are many yearly events and giveaways. The schedule is great and allows for lot of personal time. There are a lot of resources available like company gym, shuttles, concierge, cafeteria.
Cons
My department abuses temporary workers, hiring temps for what are long term positions, and they are often handling millions of dollars of equipment and product. They must do very physical work, often opting to take short breaks to show their value and look competitive. Once hired, they then have to work as "term" employees for additional years sacrificing raises, bonuses, and other perks. The promotion process is not standard and good people are left to languish as contractors for years while less-qualified sweet-talkers are promoted rapidly. This layered system of contract workers creates a very negative work environment for everyone and encourages backstabbing as we must compete and apply for the same rare job openings again and again. The work environment is casual, often bordering on inappropriate. There is no HR training to educate on different forms of inappropriate work behavior. The company is constantly trimming perks in order to cut costs. It is rapidly becoming average. When doing internal hiring, hiring managers often don't look at previous experience outside of Genentech, invalidating all one's previous work. Many good people are constantly stone-walled as a result.
