open but anonymous letter to Zoetis leadership

anonymous · Dec 6, 2017 at 4:04 PM

anonymous said: ↑

Dear Leadership Team,

Zoetis has been a wonderful place to work. For three years several thousand of us have worked incredibly hard to stand up this company from scratch. We left the tumultuous life of Pfizer with the promise of a more stable future. A future that would hold promise, the possibility of promotion and, perhaps MOST importantly, a change in culture: one which was sorely needed for those of us who had been with Pfizer for quite some time.

And Zoetis was good! It was really, really good. While we got tired of hearing "Run it like you own it" (a corporate slogan only made positive by comparison to Pfizer's "Own It"...in which the "N" stood for "no jerks" of all things), the company did feel like we were involved. It felt as though an individual's actions mattered. It felt as if we were actually "in the loop"...and perhaps most importantly, it felt as though everyone in the company from sales reps to executives were connected. It felt like you "got" us, and we had the opportunity to get you. In short, and to use a corporate buzzword that may help to get the point across to you all, it felt as though there was actual synergy. For those of us who'd spent years as nameless, faceless people at Pfizer, that feeling was amazing, and more important than any of you can possibly know.

Fast forward a couple of years and the introduction of Pershing Square into our lives. The concept of a sale of our newly minted company or, at the least, extensive layoffs was introduced. "Run it like you own it" became a thing of the past. Not only do we not feel it any longer but, gratefully, the leadership team has also stopped cramming it down our throats. Whatever "synergy" had existed has vanished in a poof of misinformation and secrecy. We all knew layoffs were coming at some point (we were clearly overstaffed in some places) but we had come to trust those folks at the top of the org chart. We went under the assumption information would be shared in a timely manner (were, in fact, told so during a town hall). Were told that the employees were truly what mattered. At this point I would like to call bologna on the lot of you. You want to know when I lost any and all confidence in you (and mind you, I stuck in there a lot longer than some), and when I ceased believing ANYTHING any of you say? The day Valeant tendered an offer to us. It was all anyone was talking about - whether a good offer or not, it was the gab of the office....and did our esteemed leadership team comfort us, or at least give us the news? Nope. Not one peep was uttered from the CEO or his team (who I'm sure were locked in a conference room someplace) to the rest of us grunts. Not. One. Word. I guess those of us in the peasantry caste at Zoetis just didn’t rank highly enough to bother with such paltry issues as a potential buy out. Belief was probably "ignore it, and it'll go away"...well got news for you, it hasn't - NOBODY has forgotten that day, or the fact that you all couldn't even be bothered to address it with your employees. Too busy planning ice cream parties I guess.

Let me ask you a question, my dear leadership team. Why do you think our headquarters is empty on Fridays? For that matter, why do you think it's even more empty than normal the rest of the week? Sure, layoffs have claimed a piece of the population, but it's not that I assure you. It's that we are working in an utterly and completely miserable and horrifying environment. The leadership team has not felt a need to share information with anyone in a good long while (the most recent town hall being a great example of misdirection and filling time with words that meant nothing), and quite frankly, have COMPLETELY lost touch with what the employees think, feel, or want. Want a great example? How about the fact that, amidst horrifying layoffs, SOMEONE up top actually DID throw the aforementioned ice cream party for the masses. Nothing screams "happiness" quite like sucking an ice cream pop and watching another colleague carry a box out of the building, I guess. A brazen employee at the last town hall more or less POINTED at our CEO and said “YOU ARE OUT OF TOUCH”….and you know what? She’s right...but it's not just the CEO. It's all of you. Probably most of your direct reports too.

We're closing out some sites. Other sites being kept open but being utterly ravaged by layoffs. Sites being told their layoffs are done, only to be told three weeks later "oops, just kidding, here's another list". And still no information of any value whatsoever has been communicated out. Vendor relationships are being ruined, customers being lost, quality of life of employees destroyed...and the loudest sound any of us has heard is that generated by rumors (other than SAP, SAP, SAP, SAP of course...which seems to be all anyone has cared about in two years). You’ve taken a terrible situation and, out of the bowels of misery…managed to make it worse. Truly an impressive feat.

Let me give you folks a quick tip, as one of the aforementioned low people on the totem. You have a lot of people who think there's a conspiracy going on. The belief is firm with many that at least a couple of you are "in bed" with PS. That you, in short, are playing for the "wrong team" if you will. What's scary...is that's the BEST case scenario - at least then you'd be doing it for financial gain or something. Personally I’m not a conspiracy theorist.

The other scenario is that, quite frankly, you don't care, or even worse still, are simply incompetent as leaders. We were told there was a “strategy” in place to deal with things like Pershing Square…and yet the only thing we’ve seen so far is them demand we cut costs (a.k.a. reduce headcount) and our leaders respond by asking “how many?” Thus a new slogan was coined…”Run it like Pershing Square owns it”.

The real shame is that Zoetis has been a good company…and had the potential to be a really great company. Yes, “had” is the word there…because if you think anyone from those who were let go to those who are still here, will EVER trust in this LT again, you are dreaming.

You want to know why the office is empty? Because we can't stand to look at you.

Yours,
An employee who is reportedly NOT being laid off, but wishes to be
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