Life after Amgen

It took me more than 1 year to leave Amgen. After RIF, I knew I needed to move on but it was so tough to leave my confort zone (good pay, so and so work, good weather, etc).

It was absolutely the right decision. I don't know why it took me so long. I hung on to easy lifestyle, no so good management, etc. I kept telling myself my job was not too bad (lucky to have a job?). Maybe a good change was coming....it never did. Fear of taking a risk held me back too long.

For those who still have @amgen.com in your e-mail address, it is great if you enjoy what you do and like your management. If not, there is actually LIFE after Amgen. Just different. I can tell you that I breath better after work these days. I know I make real progress that will impact patients' life. Dodging the bullets between departments seemed to be Amgen's culture that I don't miss at all. If that is what it takes to get up the ladder at Amgen, the corporation will go down at some point.

Curious to know what others may experience after their Amgen's time.

Amen

 

good for you...what biotech did you go to

 

Great comments. No company is worth your self respect. Congratulations on having the courage to move on and not be ruled by fear!

 

Love this thread. I still have "@amgen.com" in my email address, but for me, the writing is on the wall. It's time to move on. I'll do so a little later this year after I get a few dollars saved in the bank. I'm looking forward to life outside the big house.

 

I left Amgen about 4 years ago and it was the best thing that ever happened to me. People on the outside in Big Pharma think Amgen is this super great company that they can go to and make lots of money in stock options. Those days are gone forever. Having been in the industry for over twenty years I can tell you that Amgen is run just like a Big Pharma company and there is no difference. I am back in Big Pharma and making a lot more money then I made at Amgen. Do not be fooled.

If you like working in Big Pharma such as Merck, Pfizer and Glaxo. You will like working at Amgen. It is the same and not different. The company no longer gives big stock grants so you will not make a lot of money and the stock is not going to split every other year like it did in the past. That ship has sailed.

Amgen gets by on there "past" reputation but if you has any one who has been there at leat 10 years they will tell you how it is different.

There is life after Amgen and it is really good.

 

I left Amgen about 4 years ago and it was the best thing that ever happened to me. People on the outside in Big Pharma think Amgen is this super great company that they can go to and make lots of money in stock options. Those days are gone forever. Having been in the industry for over twenty years I can tell you that Amgen is run just like a Big Pharma company and there is no difference. I am back in Big Pharma and making a lot more money then I made at Amgen. Do not be fooled.

If you like working in Big Pharma such as Merck, Pfizer and Glaxo. You will like working at Amgen. It is the same and not different. The company no longer gives big stock grants so you will not make a lot of money and the stock is not going to split every other year like it did in the past. That ship has sailed.

Amgen gets by on there "past" reputation but if you ask any one who has been there at leat 10 years they will tell you how it is different.

There is life after Amgen and it is really good.

 

Left a few years ago, even before the big layoff when it was clear that Amgen didn't share the values I expect.

Life has been good. Great training and 3 promotions later at a company that allows you to think, speak your mind, and try to make change....I'm all good.

 

This is encouraging. Amgen's bonuses were outrageous. I heard many EDs received more than 60% of their bases as their 2008 bonuses.

Maybe Obama will come after Biotech executive pay soon. We told people that drugs are expensive so we can spend on R&D. Never mentioned the bonuses for executives.....I guess.

 

I was one of the lucky ones that got RIF'd. After 17 years of bleeding Amgen blue, the well went dry. I may not have as high a paying job right now, but I'm not wearing 3 leashes tying me to everyones becon call 24 hours a day. I still love Amgen, but the ship is sinking fast. You still have a moron at the helm.
To all my friends still putting up with the B.S. go luck.
And as far as Obummer, he'll bring everyone down.

 

I left the wonderful Amgen after 5 miserable, deflating years, best thing I ever did. I got fed up of being micromanaged out of my skin, and being told I could not go on training courses whilst the VPs flew around in the corporate jet. Amgen sucks the fat one, the most incompetently managed company I ever worked for. If any of its products ever had much competition it would be sunk. Bye Bye!

 

DMab will be the test for new Amgen. Not too many oldtimers are still there. It is so sad to see a great innovative company becomes a so-and-so big pharma with not-so-good management.

Many people hiding at ED level and up are so incompetent. If KS has a gut, he should fire half of them....on patients' behalf.

 

I was one of the lucky ones who got RIF'd.....My life after 11 years at Amgen has been wonderful. If I knew that working for a little bit smaller company with same benefits and same great pay as Amgen existed....I would have left before it all went to hell with Kevin Sharer. Yes Amgen is a great place to work, but only for so long before the life is sucked out of you.....I am at a higher level than I could have ever gotten at this time in my life if I stayed at Amgen! Good luck to those still there!

 

I too was lucky enough to get RIFed in 2007. The writing had been all over the walls for me, just got too comfortable and did not plan my move sooner. Now, 1.5 years later, not only have I managed to continue with my career, I have actually got moved up a level in a small consulting company AND will be moving on soon to even greener pasture at another level up. This could have NEVER happened if I had stayed at Amgen where there are too many Directors, EDs, etc. who are too busy protecting their titles and would squish anyone who has more talents than they do. There is definitely plenty of life after Amgen. When one door closes, another one opens, and you just have to be brave enough to look what's behind it.

I still have many friends at Amgen after spending 11 years there. I wish all of you luck and I do hope the company will turn around someday (why, I'm still a stock holder and would like to get my investment back some day). But, that probably won't be any time soon, not as long as Sharer and his gang are still there.

 

I just missed getting RIF'd last year - which really upset me. The first ones laid off always get the best severance.

I will always love the Amgen I joined in 2003, and detest the Amgen I left mid 2008. It was the best of the best and the worst of the worst job that I have had in my career.

Life after Amgen is certainly different. The level of front line talent I currently work with is not up to the standard I worked with at Amgen. However, the management and leadership skills I am currently working with are defiantly much above the Amgen bar. There is a word that describes the difference…and that word is ETHICS.

What is really heartbreaking is the lack of leadership talent that Amgen has across the board. Now and again you might find a decent line manager or executive level person, but that is the exception. The board and the "C" level staff is simply the worst that money can buy. Emphasis on buy. And money.

I liken Amgen to a rotting tree - majestic and strong, standing for years and years....while the rot from the inside takes root and ultimately ruins the tree's strength...until it falls with a loud crash and dies.

I’m on the sidelines just waiting for the inevitable crash. It’s coming. With the “C” level staff’s leadership skills deficiency, lack of rudimentary business knowledge, sense of entitlement, and outright greed, it is just a matter of time.

 

This is a little concerning to me. I am considering a move to Amgen (3rd and final interview is next week). What exactly makes life at Amgen so bad? From the outside looking in, it looks great. Current Amgen reps I have spoken with certainly seem happy. I know that no company is perfect... but how exactly are you micromanaged at Amgen?

Thanks for your honest feedback.

 

Thanks...

For those former Amgenites who have provided such great food for thought, thank you. I would ask however, that if you are with a new company that you love, could you please let us know which company it is so we can search for opportunities? Man of us have been beaten down in this industry over the years. Whether by micro-management, lack of appreciation or independence, or even a total disregard for the employess ability to creatively contribute to the growth and prosperity of the company... If you have found a place that offers these things, would you mind sharing?

Thanks you.

 

Amgen is a good company in general. Due to the unprecedented growth during 2002-2006, there are a lot of mid-managers that are not quite competent. If you are considering a position with Amgen, I would say 'getting to know your food chain' is very important. Make sure you are very comfortable with your supervisor and his/her supervisor. If possible, you should also get some read about your dept head (VP or ED). People move around quite a bit so you need to do your homework that your upward network is strong and reasonable. Look for someone that can be your advocate within or outside reporting lines.

Amgen provides good benefits, good training, etc. I personally have observed politically savvy people got promoted without other merits. However, that is not the majority. Stay on the positive side and build your network. Working at Amgen could be very rewarding.

Good luck...........be careful.

 

You MUST be snorting bone shavings! This company's only good thing is the benefits. Those who do well or are particularly intelligent or competent are subject to abuse by Directors. The person above must be drinking some wicked Kool-Aid with the bone to think training is decent. Salary is okay. Food chain is everything at this place. Kiss ass and you may be okay.

 

I left Amgen after a 5-year tenure.
18 months later, absolutely no regrets.
I saw people promoted to D and ED level that could not be hired as the equivalent of associates in the place where I work.
I am so happy to be in a place where people are recognized and promoted thanks to their contribution rather than how much they are LIKED by the in crowd of mostly shallow native californians.
I am happy to be in an environment where HR is not providing us with targets to promote blacks and women just to meet quotas regardless of competence.

I left the pharma industry and probably will never return. I do not believe in the serving the patient lie as it was never about the patient when I worked at Amgen. I spent more time worrying about the whims and wishes of VPs than about a single patient. The major thing I took away with me is that drugs are way overpriced and do not necessarily find good pipelines but rather private jets and mega undeserved bonuses.

For those who are interviewing at Amgen: if you need an income badly, this is the place to be. You will not be disappointed. You will be showered with cash that is rarely in line with your level and magnitude of contributions.
If you want to grow professionally, go somewhere else.

The biggest saddest part about Amgen: it is not the worthless stock option, the dismal quality of leadership, but the fact that so many bright folks end up wasting their careers at Amgen because of greed. How can you leave an organization designed to dish out a March mega bonus like clockwork and a base salary that is 30% above market rate ( even if I think it is a wash when taking into account the extremely high cost of living in the TO area ) ?
After a while, many useless D and ED understand that and remain at Amgen because the market just is not willing to offer a D or ED a $200k guaranteed CASH income yearly. Add to this the bad economy and Amgen is stuck with a lot of awful middle management.

I do not know of a single person I used to work with at Amgen that was a high potential but was sidelined because of the LIKE factor that did not succeed at one to three levels above the level he /she left Amgen.

My plan is to go back to Amgen in HR when nearing retirement. That's my 401k plan.

 

I really loved Amgen back in 2004 when it was all about the patient, employee satisfaction, great benefits, hard work but recognized, and even for the fermentation parties. It saddens me to see how low the company has fallen due to mediocre, self-serving egomaniac D's and ED's who are in their position not by knowledge and expertise but rather by kissing a_ _ and playing politics. I could go on an on but there are also good people who work there. These people are humble and misjudged because they are not "leaders" like them who are the loudest, meanest, fastest, and most aggressive of the lot. I almost let these "leaders" make me believe I was worth nothing and that I was incompetent but then I realized that I happen to have one of the highest academic preparations, longest years of Pharma experience as well as Research background of the Site and none of the so-called leaders are even close to this educational/professional level. I am told that there is a lot of envy and also that leaders like this competition because it is fierce and only the "best" and "strongest" survive. Funny, but I think this pertains more to animals-survival of the fittest..my apologies to the animals.

I too have fear of leaving my comfort zone but I am now starting to consider other options, especially after reading some of the comments here. However, even though I have been mistreated, disrespected, humiliated (attempted), and ostracized, I refuse to quit. I'd rather wait for them to fire me than to lose my benefits...for now.