Seattle Location needs Improvement - Anonymous employee Roche Employee Review

2.0
Mar 24, 2023
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The benefits offered are good

Cons

- Work Environment: Managers here are very involved and enjoy micromanaging. They see overworking as a badge of honor and expect you to do the same. There is now very little flexibility, working hours are absurdly long. About 95% of the site do not have children… and god help you if you do because you will have extra obstacles if you want a promotion, a high visibility project, or in general the flexibility normal salary positions provide. There is very little diversity especially in upper management. Managers are supposed to be supportive and while some managers here do deliver results, they are not leaders. They are supposed to mentor and help you grow… each member of your team is different and that’s what makes it great. But managers here only want a group of yes men and conformity. Employee satisfaction and morale is down and yet they turn a blind eye and produce an environment where people are scared to speak up because a nail that sticks out gets hammered down here. Your interests as a scientist are not valued and project priorities shift way too often for your interests to be pursued. The few managers that value work/life balance and flexibility have either left or have been overrun. There were fortunate groups with those managers that had the freedom to come/go at whatever time they please as long as their work got done. Some groups were not afforded that “luxury”. Management’s response? Make everyone’s hours long! So if you want to work 8-6, 7-6, or 8-7 or more for 5 days a week on a below market salary then this place is for you. Career Movement: There have been times they have “forgotten” to promote people over the years and have done others wrong by intentionally holding them back due to “company needs” (AKA they are having hiring/training issues and can’t get a replacement ready for your position). And since this is an R&D site only, there are no opportunities to make lateral moves into departments like Quality, Regulatory, Manufacturing, etc. Compensation Salary is very mediocre at best especially with the hours that are being worked. Very little was done during the high inflation year.

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5.0
Jun 11, 2026
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CEO approval
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Pros

Supportive, friendly, growth oriented, food

Cons

Not many, I generally liked it

3.0
Apr 4, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Excellent Employee Benefits and beautiful facilities

Cons

As a seasoned quality professional I could not recommend enough that you stay far away from this company. The entire Global Quality program is run on gaslighting. Procedures are vague and cryptic and the management solution is always to just copy and paste from another site. You will be told to "speak up" and its an open and collaborative environment, but that could not be further from the truth. Roche is a toxic environment that is run by cliques that pick and choose who gets to succeed. If you dare to speak up you're targeted and ostracized. If you want to succeed there you just need to nod head in agreement and try to follow the cryptic task that is gonna set you up for failure anyway. Success is completely contingent on how well you gossip and politic. The "Branchberg Mafia" is run on emotions and direction will change day to day depending on how leadership feels that day. Again I recommend looking somewhere else if you're looking to make an impact and enjoy a challenge. If you enjoy being a sheep or like weak and emotional management. This is the place for you.

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