Simcere Pharmaceutical Group Reviews

The most unprofessional work environment I have ever been apart of. Employees are treated as objects with zero regards to their health or well-being. This atitidue was on display during the Covid pandemic when multiple employees feared for their job safety when voicing concerns about continuing to work over 40+ hours a week despite Governor Baker’s mandates throughout. Instead of implementing and adhering to social distancing, shift work, or alternative scheduling, management deemed it better to provide Vitamin-C gummies and continue as though nothing was happening. More recent efforts to address company culture and the work place environment have seemingly fallen on deaf ears. Lengthy “town halls” filled with vague terms and highlighted words from someone’s “Human Resources 101” textbook have left many wondering if they simply don’t understand how to run a company or if they don’t care enough. Investment in employees is also shockingly absent. From looking for ways to bypass 401K matching to instructing employees to search YouTube instead of hiring field application scientists, if something does not directly contribute to the overall image of the company it won’t be considered. When looking for new career opportunities I was asked why I was looking. I found it hard to summarize or adequately relay some of the events that transpired... -Everyday common stock lab supplies routinely running out due to invoices not being paid. -Having your time in the office “secretly” noted by HR despite staying well past normal working hours to complete experiments. -Being reported as “late” for arriving at 9:10 and being asked to take PTO. -Cherry picking of data to exacerbate project success. Or even just the general disrespect towards researchers. If the BIC wasn’t backed by a large Chinese pharmaceutical company, I don’t believe they would have made it this long. Incompetence runs rampant among most of the company (including researchers) and many employees are just waiting for their promised 20% bonus. While they may offer slightly higher compensation for a given position, I would strongly consider weighing all the options before joining on.

It is difficult for me to express the magnitude of my displeasure with Simcere Innovation. I would not recommend this company to anyone. First, and most egregiously, the company required some employees to continue working daily during the Covid-19 shutdown, despite not working on Covid-related research. Much of this work was performed within small rooms with multiple people present at once. Also, as a response to initial concerns about working during the early Covid outbreak, the company handed out Vitamin C ‘gummies’ and demanded employees be present for normal work hours. I would like to remind others that this was a time when, as a good gesture to employees, many other biotech firms not working on Covid-19 paused operations. Additionally, I feel that the hiring process was not honest. For example, candidates were told during recruitment that they would be hired as full-time employees with benefits from the start, but essentially were hired as ‘work-to hire’ for a 6-month initial time-period. Some were also told verbally they would receive stock, while stock options were not available for this company. In addition, be advised that Simcere Innovation is a not a biotech ‘startup’ in the traditional sense, but part of a large Chinese Pharmaceutical company. Management reports to the headquarters in China, and many strategic and scientific decisions are made without input from scientist and senior-scientist’s input at the Boston location. Furthermore, there seems to be an absence of meritocratic decision making and appreciation for performance among management. Much of the work is done by a few people, while some have been allowed to exert minimal effort. This seems to depend on which group employees join. Some groups get away with doing absolutely nothing and never presenting any data. Other groups present the same data over and over again with no one seeming to notice. Other groups are expected to work nonstop. There are 5 groups in the company. Good luck choosing where you land. In short, do yourself a favor and avoid this company.