New opportunities at Organon

Organon headquarters in Oss, the Netherlands

reproduced with permission of nv Organon / all rights reserved

Organon ranked seventh among large companies in this year's Best Places to Work in Industry survey - its first year on our charts. Despite being acquired last fall by fifth-ranking Schering-Plough, employees say Organon has so far retained its identity and commitment to high-quality research. Most are optimistic about the change.

With the acquisition, Organon brings nearly 3,000 new research and development employees to Schering-Plough's team of some 4,400. In addition, Organon's line of more than two dozen products will be a strong complement to Schering-Plough's $12 billion in revenue, according to Anja Garritsen, head of target discovery in Organon's office in Oss, the Netherlands.

Some employees think of the acquisition as simply another collaboration that adds to Organon's long history of partnerships. One of the company's strongest initiatives has been to create collaborations with academic teams in both Europe and the United States. In fact, Organon established a US office in the Boston area three years ago to tap into the strong academic and biotech research community in the city. Already, the Boston office has started a collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says Shawn Foti, senior research associate, whose early-discovery group works on human monoclonal antibodies.

While some of our survey respondents expressed concern over how the acquisition by Schering-Plough will affect jobs and the work climate, it's too early to say how things may change, says Garritsen. On the whole "I think the feeling here is extremely positive, because Schering-Plough has a similar work culture to ourselves and is very research oriented," says Mark Craighead, a project leader at the Newhouse, Scotland, location. "I think it's a good fit."

Organon's culture wins praise in part because of its focus on employee benefits such as family-oriented events and flexible hours to balance work and home life. At the Newhouse location, the Christmas parties for employees' children are very popular; for two hours on a Sunday near the holiday, Santa visits and hands out gifts to each child. "My son really looks forward to that party," says Gul Erdemli, electrophysiology team leader at Newhouse.