Pfizer Employee Reviews for Professional

"Innovation and empowerment have been replaced with control and fear."

What do you like about working at Pfizer?

"Pfizer offers great salary and benefits to its employees. This includes a top-notch severance package, which is reassuring because there have been layoffs every year since 2005. I have been in field sales for 18 years. The vast majority of first-level managers I have met are helpful and encouraging, genuinely committed to the success of the individuals on their teams. Contrary to a few other posts, I believe executive leadership is trying to take the company in an appropriate direction. The current CEO (Read) and his leadership team seem to understand the cultural issues that keep Pfizer from being the great place to work it once was, and they appear to be intent on correcting those issues."

Do you have any tips for others interviewing with this company?

"I would recommend looking elsewhere right now. Pfizer might offer a recent college graduate some useful experience to apply in another setting, but it would not be a good place to learn leadership skills or gain independence. Because we have been going through layoffs nearly every year, the areas hardest hit are those with the fewest open territories. I would definitely ask what the number of vacant but funded positions are in the district/team you would be a part of. Those teams with a lot of vacant positions generally do not have to lay off as many colleagues as those who are at full staffing."

What don't you like about working at Pfizer?

"Unfortunately, the previous two CEOs have ruined the culture within Pfizer. What had once been a culture of innovation, empowerment, and development is gone. Most middle managers have been trained by previous senior leaders to hoard power and decision-making. Pfizer has become insular and dictatorial. There is little to no latitude for innovative thought at the level of execution of work. To sum it up, a middle manager recently told a group of us (regarding local selling strategies), very bright people have created these strategies and tactics. We do not want you to come up with your own. What we expect is flawless execution of the plans we present to you. In other words, do what we tell you to do and say what we tell you to say when, how often, and to whom we tell you."

What suggestions do you have for management?

"While our industry is more regulated and scrutinized than ever, if we expect to retain the most capable colleagues, we must restore our focus on innovation and ownership at ALL levels. There is significant variance in how the OWN-IT meme is interpreted by managers. The core of our value to our customers is built on innovation, not just in product development, but in business execution as well. Leadership differs from management in that leaders innovate, delegate, and inspire, while managers control and measure. To become successful again, we must create leaders at all levels, not managers. Decision making at the level where work is done is not allowed currently. This must change."