Pros
The company offers excellent pay and benefits. Biogen is creating something good for the world and really values its patients. The strategic vision for the company is excellent and I believe Biogen will continue to dominate each market segment it ventures into for years to come.
Cons
The ideas of junior scientists are not valued and contractors are treated well but strung along for years. In my opinion a contractor should never be renewed for a second year... if they're worth renewing, they're worth hiring FT. We're not talking about 16 year old kids, we're talking about adults who would like to have health insurance and 401k plans provided by their employer. Junior and mid-level scientists are taught to fall in line, don't rock the boat, and never stand against convention or you will be flogged through a concerted effort of "powers that be". I see people come straight out of college with the same excitement and fresh ideas that the CEO and top executives are always talking about, but middle management does not have the same appetite for risk and 7 levels later, it's like working for contrary accountants, not innovative scientists and engineers. All of these things are mostly isolated to the "little brother" RTP site in my experience. There is not any company sponsored social hour in RTP, while Cambridge has weekly social "hour" from 4-7 where beer, wine and appetizers/snacks are served. RTP feels like a forgotten little brother by comparison. When we launched a new drug, all of Cambridge went to Fenway Park to celebrate and cavort for hours, leaving work early and partying into the evening. In RTP, we celebrated in the Biogen courtyard from 12-2 and then wen't back to work. They were nice enough to provide us with a Fenway Park backdrop, in case we wanted to have a picture taken for the "Outta The Park!" theme. There was banana pudding and iced tea. There is also a lot of talk about internal mobility and the value of a diversely trained work force, but in reality most of the people who are hired into mid and upper level positions have been doing the same job for years, only at a different company. There is a strong push for anyone wanting to advance their career to leave the company. People are routinely hired in at hire levels than peers with the same experience and education profile, and the longer you work there, the worse the disparity gets.
