Bayer reviews

Bayer is concerned about it's image. The focus on charity and the environment is part of this, which is great... but moral of the employees does not matter to upper management at all. For example, for my first several years, working from home was not considered a big deal. Over time, for reasons that are unclear to me, it became forbidden except for the most extreme circumstances. The hypocrisy being there is a HUGE focus on outsourcing. Basically, as it was pitched to me, Indian colleagues would handle most of the technical work, while the customer facing jobs such as project planning and requirements would be handled in the states. So... what you're saying is, we are going to have a huge REMOTE workforce, but if I need to work from home so I can go to a doctors appointment on the other side of the city, it's out of the question. Accountability is EVERYTHING at Bayer. The entire company is a bureaucratic nightmare. Need to change one line of code to a program to fit a new business need? Be prepared to spend at least 3 full days filling out risk assessments, arguing over budget, and hunting down signatures. If I could imagine a worst -case scenario for making it difficult to do your job and get things done for your customers, Bayer would be it. TIME SHEETS... oh the time sheets. Be prepared for every line item of your time sheets to be criticized by both American and German management. In the States, there is a very strong push to be 100% billable. In Germany, there is a very strong push to cut budgets. So if you legitimately bill 100% of your time, you will get a phone call the next week going over every line item, asking what you spent the time on, and if there was a faster way you could have done it. This is part of where being a young employee is terrible... You're right out of college, trying to learn, and they want you to be doing work just as fast as the guys with 20+ years of experience. Never mind that you're billing at a rate that is less than half what they are... you would think you could bill twice as much time for the same cost... I mean, isn't that the point of a Jr employee billing at a lower rate? No, this is not the case. If you are not writing the best code possible, as fast as the fastest employee does, in a language you never heard of before you were hired, then you are in for several long conversations. Conversations that will take a LONG time, and will also need to be billed somewhere. In short... if you bill "too much" then German management is all over you, if you bill "too little" then american management is all over you. And no, there is not a grey area that pleases both sides. You will be given a stern talking to about this, at least once a month. Getting back to being young at Bayer. If you are young and trying to learn, be prepared to have no help getting up to speed. Budgets and time are so tight that no one will have time to help you without they themselves getting in trouble for wasting time and budget. Basically, employees are indirectly, yet actively being punished for helping new employees. You WILL be working with a skeleton crew. Upper management is actively trying to get people to leave so they can outsource. The attitude of "you should just feel lucky you have a job" is rampant. I must have heard that sentence a million times while I was there. Not just from my peers, but from my manager. The half-truths and outright lies that upper management tells its employees became laughable after a while. "We have no plans of selling BMS" later, you read in the news that Bayer plans on selling BMS. "We need to cut costs", "Business demand is on the decline", and later you'll get a newsletter announcing that BBS has had RECORD BREAKING SALES and is LOOKING TO EXPAND BY ACQUIRING COMPANIES. In summary: DO NOT WORK FOR THIS COMPANY. I took a huge pay cut to leave, and I've never been happier. Don't let them convince you that it's no better anywhere else, because they will try... I'm here to tell you it's better literally everywhere else.