I'm trying to do my diligence on the new Roche sequencing unit before accepting a position there. I am not hearing good things about the prior head DZ or the current head NG. It seems like NG is part of the old boys' network & has a rather bad personal reputation. Roche has put a lot of money into this unit. Any insights on the companies they have acquired & the leadership in their sequencing unit? I was surprised by the lack of technical & business knowledge shown by some of my interviewers. It seemed like a lot of the questions were about how I would work with others & lead, rather than what I could deliver. I've heard that Roche emphasizes consensus over open discussion and new thinking. Thanks for any insights you have.
I don't personally know Neil Gunn or Dan Zabrowski - never cared about these so-called higher ups, because you nailed it - the big boys club. It is very widely prevalent at Roche - especially the Pleasanton site. To the extent that I interacted with anyone here, no one came off as being knowledgeable. That's not their motive. Their motive primarily is to 'acquire' companies - not grow talent at home. You speak of technical and business knowledge, and I was doing hard-core science. Imagine my plight realizing how dumb everyone that I spoke to was. All that I got was: "we are Roche" arrogance. I couldn't breathe. I left in a little over a year, and am MUCH happier at a reasonably big company, making much more than what Roche paid me, and doing far more intelligent things, interacting with people that actually work with a purpose. As far as the companies they acquired goes, their arrogance towards PacBio constantly pissed me off. These idiots at Roche didn't have the simplest of the skills and demanded that Pacbio help set up everything for them, because 'PacBio is looking at Roche to stay afloat'. I am honestly very worried for Bina Technologies, because they have been doing good stuff (and are yet to be tainted by the Roche culture). Once they get on the radar, I bet Bina would be destroyed in no time. The Director of Bioinformatics at Ariosa Diagnostics left the moment Roche acquired Ariosa. Not sure if that was just timing, or if that was intentional. Lastly, a resounding YES - Roche is a VERY conservative company.New thinking is never encouraged. You follow instructions, and if you are unhappy, you are openly told to leave. Promotions don't happen based on merit and performance - no they don't. You have to make an effort to please your boss constantly towards that end. If you were to accept a position there, be very guarded and be very cautious of your sentiments. Perhaps when the time is right, get the 'Roche' thing on your resume and drift away to much greener pastures.
One other thing that I noticed about the severe lack in competence at the Roche Pleasanton site is that I would deliver the analytics on something not terribly complicated (at-least with respect to the things that I had worked in my career before), and there were people ready to pounce on the deliverables to take credit, while excluding my name completely from it. This included the so-called 'higher-ups' from both research and marketing. Every single time! It was as if vultures were waiting to peck at the remains of whatever was thrown at them. I haven't seen that sort of thing ever before, or after. I don't know if its a Roche thing, or general Pharma culture. I certainly hope it is just a Roche thing.
Getting REALLY tired of these bozos at Roche Sequencing making a lot of noise about how Roche spends way more money on its R&D than any other Pharma company. Where are your products, you IDIOTS? Do these clowns even think?? Quit making noise when you have nothing to show for, and in the end all you will likely do is go out and BUY another innovative company (and eventually destroy it). Genentech is the only subsidiary where any native talent resides (and they don't want to have ANYTHING to do with you!!). You NEVER built any product (including your main bread winner, PCR technology). Instead, you bought everything that made you any money. So shut up and stop selling fluff to anybody and everybody. Who are these clueless IDIOTS that are lining up to take employment at Roche Sequencing?? There seems to be a constant turn-over at this division, and yet more clueless morons line up!
Do you have anything 'informative' to add about Roche (your 2 cents), or mere boot-licking (which is even worse).
This company has a horrible culture and is generally just a depressing place to work. This is a giant company that does not value its employees and views every one of them (and entire units and campuses) as totally replaceable. This is especially true for scientific staff. As far as these people are concerned one scientist is the same as another. When you work here you are constantly reminded of this. For example, every quarter the budget comes out and management announces at the weekly meetings if your department is still funded for all of its staff. If it isn't, you better hope your not a contractor. Most of the actual lab work is done by contractors not Roche employees. Management regularly tells employees if you don't like it you should quit. I have watched upper management say this to a room full staff and managers. This attitude is shared by front line managers who are not afraid to repeat it to a direct report. This attitude extends to even basic requests for ergonomic desks and chairs or eye washes that do not have rusty water in them. The people who last here are the ones who are so terrified and desperate for a job that they are willing work in this kind of environment. If you have a choice why would you want to work at a place where you are regularly told your work is not valued, your job can be cut at any time (regardless of your performance), and management does not even care enough to make sure that basic ergonomic equipment is available to their staff? If you have the option, don't take the job here. Save your self the trouble and just say No Thanks!
People that last here are also the ones that have above average kiss ass skills. Just look at the caliber of their directors, research leaders and principal scientists. Oh, don't forget their VPs Walter Koch and Lin Wu. They lead the pack in worthlessness. That clueless idiots can still make VPs, is a lesson to be learned from these two.
Agree with everything that's been said here. And Lara Hashimoto is absolutely the worst, completely lacking a moral compass and leadership skills. She is a liar and although she thinks she's smart, she's way over her head on technical things.
