So when does the defined benefit pension plan get cut or changed?

Exactly! Leaving J&J was the best move I made after nearly 20 years with various J&J organizations. My only regret is that I didn't leave sooner. The company from an employment perspective has been on a downward spiral for the past ten years. The J&J lifers with 20 years of service are clinging in hopes of making it to retired medical and the new point system will result in the program being cost prohibitive. And they are no longer earning pension credited service. They stay because they aren't valued in the external market. With all the ethical issues at J&J these past ten years, having J&J on your resume for many years is not viewed as a good thing by potential employers. Most would wonder why someone stayed that long in a toxic and unethical culture.

 

Current jnj employees hired prior to Jan 2015, who have unbroken service prior to then, still continue to earn pension credit service. Anyone hired or rehired Jan 1, 2015 or later will not get a pension. At the moment jnj is trying to force out the grandfathered employees hired prior to Jan 2015 & replace them with H1 visa holders from India, or clueless young college grads who won't even know what a pension is.

 

Such a "not nice company" but that is a different story. Can someone explain how the numbers (age plus years of service) influences how much one pays for medical? I know if you make 90 it is the cheapest but how does it tier down and how much?

 

100% untrue. JnJ has reduced the pensions per future years service several times. The people you hear of that have retired did so mostly due to the previous pension plans. If you were hired after 1/1/2015 after 5 years you will get a pension upon being of age to draw. That will probably pay for your groceries on one trip a year. The truth is the pension cut didn't happen all at once. It took many years to reduce it. The good news is you can buy stock to see the revenue you lost. JnJ is buying Actelion with the money that you were screwed out of.

 

A lot of what you said is true, especially the Action line. That was funny! However, J&J has been forcing out the older reps for some time now. Of course the way they did it gave them plausible deniability, but make no mistake they did it. I was in the room. One DM quit in protest. Three "found other opportunities" because they wouldn't drop the hammer. RDs brought in people that would and it was so obvious. J&J public image is a joke.

 

The last time the pension was reduced was in 2003, and anyone who was hired prior to 1/1/2015 is currently on that particular "2003-2015" plan. That pension plan no longer takes in new hires, but grandfathered employees are still continuing to earn credited service for that pension plan.

New hires & rehires as of 1/1/2015 do not get a pension at all. They get some kind of cash-balance plan only, which is payable as a lump sum upon their age of retirement.

 

Everything in that comment was 100% untrue? Really? So JnJ doesn't hire H1 visa holders? Have you been to any JnJ campus? Most of the engineering staff consists of H1 visa holders who work for Tata. American citizens were all fired a long time ago & replaced with cheap, H1 visa labor. By going through Tata, JnJ doesn't have to give them health insurance, 401k, pension, etc..

JnJ doesn't fire employees who've been working there for 4 years but less than 5, just to avoid pension liability? See this thread:
http://cafepharma.com/boards/threads/a-gorsky-quote-on-reducing-pension-costs.602222/#post-5780051

It's well known that anyone who has less than 5 years of service is targeted for termination so the company can avoid pension liabilities. I know of 3 employees in the past year who were fired with 4 years & 6 months of service, give or take. The goal is to fire folks before they hit the 5 year mark.

 

For someone who has been working for 20 years and is planning to work for another 15, with an average salary of 130k , what monthly pre taxed pension one can expect ? Please do not respond by saying :"you won't last another 15 years" . Most of the employees in my department do.

 

You know how to access the benefits website and imput your personal information to find out this information.

 

You have worked for J&J for 20 years and need the help of CP trolls to answer this question?

 

you will make approximately 5000 dollars monthly.

 

You must be a biotech girl with that kind of pay sweetie. The answer depends on when you draw. That is at what age. If you wit yo 67 you might get about $3,500 if it doesn't get downgraded again. The idiots on this site mis quote. The $5000 would include your social security and 401k distribution (which could varie). Now go shine some more management knobs. Now doubt that is how you achieved that pay level.

 

No big pension money (and not big compared to state and gov't. pensions) at least 30 years.

 

I keep seeing quotes like this and wonder why no one becomes a whistleblower. You get 10% times dozens of wronged people times probably $600k in trebled damages from the class action suit and you never have to work in this business again.

 

I was in the Jannsen Pharm side - Hospital. Started in 2003, and as I got closer to 55 I saw my territory cut many times, some ZS and some management "adjustments". Left with 12 years on my 55th birthday, draw a couple of thousand a month and pay for the premium insurance. Miss the money, but happy to be away from that toxic place.

 

To the above you are incorrect. Thirty years and plus is the trick; no $3,500 a month and I am not including social security just pension. A lot more years = a lot more pension.

 

hi all.

I am currently interviewing with JnJ for a mobile development position ($115-120K salary) and they advertise that they still offer a pension plan and 401k. People on here are saying they don't offer it anymore so I doubt they are lying to me, telling me they don't offer it.

Right now I am making a good bit less(roughly 85k), no pension plan but a 401k match on every paycheck(i contribute 6%, they contribute 4%). I guess I am wondering how JnJ 401k system works. Do they only contribute/match at the end of the year vs every paycheck? That makes a huge difference over the next 20 years. If not, do i just contribute the max i can since ill be making a lot more per month?

I want to 'retire' at age 59 1/2(I am 40 now), and use a small portion of my 401k as salary until SS kicks in at 62 then use the 401k thereafter as a mere supplement.

So first I need to know what the current pension plan would pay if i stayed until 59 1/2 (or 60) if my salary stayed the same. If they only match 401k at the end of the year(and i put in a bit more per month) will i make out better with the pension, assuming I'm still around to see it at or around age 60, plus 401K + SS.

Theres also some other tidbits. I am currently working 100% remote but JnJ seems to be willing to let me do this after the the initial setup and getting things started. Ill assume they will honor that and be committed to that. If anyone wants to comment on that then let me know. I just don't want them to say in 6 months, "hey we aren't going to do that anymore." Maybe ill have to get that in writing.

From a culture perspective, I know the credo says, "you are your own boss, you can make your own path, yada yada" but I've heard that before at huge corporations only to be inundated with boring mid-year reviews and end-year reviews that seek to gather information of how your managers and peers rate your work (and what you think of yourself) and some 'metric' system is in place to measure that -- instead of actual results. Then you have to work about utilization numbers and if you don't meet a certain percentage it counts against you - and thus effects your 'performance rating' and possible raises. This may only be valid with consulting companies but wanted to gauge others to see if this kind of ridiculousness happens at JnJ.

Thats enough for now but wanted to get others thoughts/comments and go from there. Let me know if you need any more numbers/info.

 

forgot to mention from the long post above:

right now where i work there is no vacation policy. The HR guy said that I would start at 2 weeks? That seems kinda lame for a big corp. I would expect at least 4 weeks. That just seems low for a professional. Going back to one of my jobs from 2006 i remember getting 3 weeks, so the 2 weeks seems kinda low and not competitive. Anyone care to provide current info for new employees or what the scale is after a certain number of years?

 

You should be able to get the answers to your questions from your HR contact at J&J. Asking these questions on cafe pharma may only result in misinformation. As for J&J's vacation policy, it is an area that has never been competitive in the market and they've managed to get by with this. The truth is that most employees with many years of experience with negotiate for additional vacation time as part of their employment offer.

My last comment to you as a former 20 year J&J employee is to cast the net broadly in looking for your next career opportunity. There are many opportunities out there far superior to what J&J. The culture at J&J is "broken" and its current leadership lacks integrity. It is a hollow company without a soul and if working for a company with sound ethics is what you are looking for, look elsewhere. If you are willing to sell your soul, work exceptionally long hours, and turn your head the other way when you see unethical practices in order to advance your career, J&J will be a fit for you.