Pfizer reviews

3.7

69% would recommend to a friend

(8,722 total reviews)
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Albert Bourla

49% approve of CEO

49% positive business outlook

Pfizer has an employee rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars, based on 8,722 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Pfizer employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Farmacéutica y biotecnología industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

9K reviews
2.0
Dec 19, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I started at Pfizer in 1995 and worked as a contractor from 2001 -2008. My last five years I was lucky enough to work for Andy Lee the best leader of my career. It was a great place to work, diverse, open and supportive. During the last 5 years the best reasons for working at Pfizer are gone. The small amenities that made it a great place to work are gone and constant re-organization and corporate propaganda that conflicts with corporate actions have destroyed Pfizer. Productivity, innovation and trust between employees have ground to a halt. I've watched Hank McKinnell and now Jeff Kindler drive Pfizer into the dust. Jeff you’ve only made things worse. Take a hike and do the right thing leave that golden umbrella behind. You haven’t earned it

Cons

Constant reorganization, a caste system between Pfizer exempt and non-exempt colleagues and contractors, lack of job security, irresponsible leadership and a CEO, board of directors and Senior Management who only ask is this profitable, will this boost my bonus and who remain unconcerned who don't ask is it right; does it conform to some higher standards in terms of how we operate?

5.0
Dec 16, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Talented colleagues, Pfizer Values. Creativity and Innovation is encouraged! I love the independence that I"m given in my job to find creative solutions and be innovative. The volume / workload is heavy and you rarely get that 'light at the end of the tunnel' feeling, but if you can embrace the challenges, it really is energizing. I learn so much at Pfizer through all of the projects I've been involved in. Every day you really do learn something new. It's dynamic and challenging and all about what you make it. The people and the projects are what make Pfizer great!

Cons

A LOT of work, finite resources. You are tired at the end of the day!

3.0
Dec 11, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Pfizer had amazing resources both in terms of financial resources and in terms of expertise within the company. Also, it was incredibly supportive of working women (or at least, my own managers certainly were), with many women (and men) being part-time or flex-time. This enabled people to have balanced family lives, and when their children needed them less, it was possible to "gear up" and take on positions of greater responsibility (one wasn't stuck on a mommy track forever). This resulted in a happy, loyal, productive workforce--at least until the site was closed. It was really great working there while it lasted.

Cons

Now that I'm in a startup, I recognize that Pfizer suffered from a very large bureaucracy that really added inertia to all kinds of things...everything from clinical trial design to contracting to...really everything. For example, now (in a startup) I can obtain contracts myself within 2 minutes; at Pfizer it took days. Sometimes a contract-in-progress at Pfizer would disappear into a black hole (such as Legal review) for weeks, and there would be nothing I could do to shake it loose. That just doesn't happen in a startup. Another thing that really decreased morale was that it was apparent that some sites at Pfizer (Pfizer had lots of sites...fewer now) were "more equal" than others, sometimes treating those at other sites like merely "hands" and not valuing their potentially intelligent input. At an extreme, this hierarchical posturing would result sometimes in an incorrect decision (e.g., a study design) being implemented because of intersite politics: if the incorrect decision came from a "more equal" site, those from that site might be less likely to listen to critiques from colleagues at the "less equal" site. In such situations, eventually the colleagues at the "less equal" site, being told enough times to shut up and just do what they're told, would give up and just become the well-paid automatons that apparently the company wanted....or leave the project.

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