Home Office Update:
As I said in my previous posts, I will do what I can to provide you with an update of what I do know. Valeant HR presented a welcome kit to permanent employees explaining a very high level of their benefits package. If you received this, then I will not bother wasting anytime. However, here is my personal (my opinion) view of this welcome kit based on additional interactions with Valeant sr. staff, interaction with current Valeant employees both entry level and mid-level managers, and ex-Valeant employees who went through a true Valeant acquisition process previously. If I offend anyone from Valeant or Salix, that is not my intention here, just trying to let the sales reps and others know what's to come from my personal experiences and discussions.
Valeant Welcome Kit to Salix Permanent Employees
1. Overall benefits are a wash, except the following; stocks invest every three years instead of 25% each year. Bonus potential for salary grade appears to be 10-15% lower as compared to Salix unless you are one of those Sr. VPs in which Valeant commits to look after with a collective 12-13% of net income. To me, employees who are below the level of Sr. Director should not expect to receive the same benefits as before. This is why the 2.5% is a standard rate increase b/c Valeant can't afford to spend 12-13% of net income and then give all of their employees more than 2.5%.
2. No potential for growth. As per my initial introduction, I have talked to various folks internally, externally, and with my future boss and it is clear, promotions are not going to happen anytime soon unless you end up being someone's lap boy or if you work in NJ. They will tell you that this will be a new company with the Salix staff, but once you start asking questions (which I encourage all of you to ask when talking with your future boss) you will develop your own opinion.
3. Don't expect to do the same job; not sure how this might impact the sales reps b/c you are already locked into a territory (that could still be redefined based on expansions), but for home office, most of the permanents are being asked to do something different than what they have done in the past. The difference is not as extreme as working in quality and now they are asking you to work in finance, but just note that this might be helpful based upon your termination/severance contract.
4. Based on other interactions with Valeant employees, it appears that they all get nervous during acquisitions. Simply put, they are fearful of being replaced regardless of their performance. It appears that they have terminated employees and replaced them with cheaper labor force. I was also told that if your severance package is 12 months, then don't be surprised that they terminate you on the 13 month and replace you with cheaper labor force. For those who stay, you will have to take on more work and work with colleagues who are less experienced.
5. Short vs. Long-term strategy: Valeant uses a short-term strategic model. They don't look at long-term simply because their business model is to volatile. No time to stabilize the growth due to so many acquisitions. So if you want a "short-term" job, this might be the place for you.
6. Valeant's severance policy is too vague meaning that they don't share the details of this. So if you are terminated through layoffs, I would expect 1-2 weeks per year of service (max up to 6 months). I was told that they are going to consider Salix employee time in defining this. However, this really doesn't matter since Valeant will never be acquired for reasons we all know. If you are terminated, not for cause, then I would anticipate 1 week per service.
7. Un-decisive Valeant Management Team: For some of the employees in the home office who were told that they would be let go 2-3 months after the acquisition, Valeant is now extending these. If you say no, you lose your severance package even if you have another job lined up. In short, Valeant could ask you to stay longer up till the day that your original retention date. What we are finding out is that the acquisition was so fast and/or Valeant sr. staff is lacking in the technical competency and this is creating chaos. Systems that they said initially they were going to terminate, now they are going to keep. This is happening across all departments.
8. For those of you who work in R&D, I would anticipate maybe one project surviving the cutoff since Valeant's model is not to develop drugs. Allergan was correct in their assessment and Valeants balance sheets show this as well (go check out how much they do spend on R&D and compare this to the salaries that are awarded to the top 1% at Valeant). The word on the street though is that maybe only 3-4 R&D permanent employees will remain in June (Salix permanents are leaving for other careers).
9. Valeant has already started increasing drug prices. I guess this is to make up for the additional sales price of Salix and this is what they do. These will be passed onto patients. Now, I get that this is a business, but just like anything else, if prices continue to rise, physicians will choose equivalent, comparable drugs at lesser prices. Valeant is also trying to ramp up inventory even though we have a huge inventory problem. It will be very interesting to see how the market views their earnings and costs at the next quarterly meeting. I am not anticipating Valeant in meeting their goals (500 million in synergistic cost savings within 6 months and reduction of inventory by end of year). With their debt notes and lack of cash flow, don't expect this companies stock to increase significantly in the next few years. I would short the stock at best. Again, my opinion here and what I have heard. Why do I mention this, if you think there is potential to become filthy rich with their stock grants, I would be careful here. You will not see the increase that we saw with Salix in the same time period and will have to spend at least 3 years to reap any significant benefits.
10. According to current and previous Salix employees, they are anticipating a high percentage of employees to leave. They understand that their model is to volatile and that it is very short-term. So if you leave, they win, if you stay, they win. If you do stay, again, be careful as if history repeats itself, Valeant could terminate you on April 2, 2016 (for example). According to recruiters, the job market is great right now, but they anticipate a decline in hiring after September based on economic indicators.
Just a quick top 10 list. If you are one that is welcoming change, then good b/c it is coming. Maybe you do not or did not like your previous boss, but based on what I have seen and heard, the chances are it will be worse. Also, there are rumors that the Salix Raleigh site will only be around for 12-18 months. Ironic that this equivalent to our severance package timelines.
Hope this was helpful to some of you; some of this was already stated, but I had some interesting conversations on Friday/Saturday with ex-Valeant employees and current Valeant employees. They indicated that they are strapped to not to leave because of the increase in their stock price over the last year and they are waiting for their vested date to leave. They want to leave now, but financially, they will wait it out.
Best of luck to all of you.
PE
As I said in my previous posts, I will do what I can to provide you with an update of what I do know. Valeant HR presented a welcome kit to permanent employees explaining a very high level of their benefits package. If you received this, then I will not bother wasting anytime. However, here is my personal (my opinion) view of this welcome kit based on additional interactions with Valeant sr. staff, interaction with current Valeant employees both entry level and mid-level managers, and ex-Valeant employees who went through a true Valeant acquisition process previously. If I offend anyone from Valeant or Salix, that is not my intention here, just trying to let the sales reps and others know what's to come from my personal experiences and discussions.
Valeant Welcome Kit to Salix Permanent Employees
1. Overall benefits are a wash, except the following; stocks invest every three years instead of 25% each year. Bonus potential for salary grade appears to be 10-15% lower as compared to Salix unless you are one of those Sr. VPs in which Valeant commits to look after with a collective 12-13% of net income. To me, employees who are below the level of Sr. Director should not expect to receive the same benefits as before. This is why the 2.5% is a standard rate increase b/c Valeant can't afford to spend 12-13% of net income and then give all of their employees more than 2.5%.
2. No potential for growth. As per my initial introduction, I have talked to various folks internally, externally, and with my future boss and it is clear, promotions are not going to happen anytime soon unless you end up being someone's lap boy or if you work in NJ. They will tell you that this will be a new company with the Salix staff, but once you start asking questions (which I encourage all of you to ask when talking with your future boss) you will develop your own opinion.
3. Don't expect to do the same job; not sure how this might impact the sales reps b/c you are already locked into a territory (that could still be redefined based on expansions), but for home office, most of the permanents are being asked to do something different than what they have done in the past. The difference is not as extreme as working in quality and now they are asking you to work in finance, but just note that this might be helpful based upon your termination/severance contract.
4. Based on other interactions with Valeant employees, it appears that they all get nervous during acquisitions. Simply put, they are fearful of being replaced regardless of their performance. It appears that they have terminated employees and replaced them with cheaper labor force. I was also told that if your severance package is 12 months, then don't be surprised that they terminate you on the 13 month and replace you with cheaper labor force. For those who stay, you will have to take on more work and work with colleagues who are less experienced.
5. Short vs. Long-term strategy: Valeant uses a short-term strategic model. They don't look at long-term simply because their business model is to volatile. No time to stabilize the growth due to so many acquisitions. So if you want a "short-term" job, this might be the place for you.
6. Valeant's severance policy is too vague meaning that they don't share the details of this. So if you are terminated through layoffs, I would expect 1-2 weeks per year of service (max up to 6 months). I was told that they are going to consider Salix employee time in defining this. However, this really doesn't matter since Valeant will never be acquired for reasons we all know. If you are terminated, not for cause, then I would anticipate 1 week per service.
7. Un-decisive Valeant Management Team: For some of the employees in the home office who were told that they would be let go 2-3 months after the acquisition, Valeant is now extending these. If you say no, you lose your severance package even if you have another job lined up. In short, Valeant could ask you to stay longer up till the day that your original retention date. What we are finding out is that the acquisition was so fast and/or Valeant sr. staff is lacking in the technical competency and this is creating chaos. Systems that they said initially they were going to terminate, now they are going to keep. This is happening across all departments.
8. For those of you who work in R&D, I would anticipate maybe one project surviving the cutoff since Valeant's model is not to develop drugs. Allergan was correct in their assessment and Valeants balance sheets show this as well (go check out how much they do spend on R&D and compare this to the salaries that are awarded to the top 1% at Valeant). The word on the street though is that maybe only 3-4 R&D permanent employees will remain in June (Salix permanents are leaving for other careers).
9. Valeant has already started increasing drug prices. I guess this is to make up for the additional sales price of Salix and this is what they do. These will be passed onto patients. Now, I get that this is a business, but just like anything else, if prices continue to rise, physicians will choose equivalent, comparable drugs at lesser prices. Valeant is also trying to ramp up inventory even though we have a huge inventory problem. It will be very interesting to see how the market views their earnings and costs at the next quarterly meeting. I am not anticipating Valeant in meeting their goals (500 million in synergistic cost savings within 6 months and reduction of inventory by end of year). With their debt notes and lack of cash flow, don't expect this companies stock to increase significantly in the next few years. I would short the stock at best. Again, my opinion here and what I have heard. Why do I mention this, if you think there is potential to become filthy rich with their stock grants, I would be careful here. You will not see the increase that we saw with Salix in the same time period and will have to spend at least 3 years to reap any significant benefits.
10. According to current and previous Salix employees, they are anticipating a high percentage of employees to leave. They understand that their model is to volatile and that it is very short-term. So if you leave, they win, if you stay, they win. If you do stay, again, be careful as if history repeats itself, Valeant could terminate you on April 2, 2016 (for example). According to recruiters, the job market is great right now, but they anticipate a decline in hiring after September based on economic indicators.
Just a quick top 10 list. If you are one that is welcoming change, then good b/c it is coming. Maybe you do not or did not like your previous boss, but based on what I have seen and heard, the chances are it will be worse. Also, there are rumors that the Salix Raleigh site will only be around for 12-18 months. Ironic that this equivalent to our severance package timelines.
Hope this was helpful to some of you; some of this was already stated, but I had some interesting conversations on Friday/Saturday with ex-Valeant employees and current Valeant employees. They indicated that they are strapped to not to leave because of the increase in their stock price over the last year and they are waiting for their vested date to leave. They want to leave now, but financially, they will wait it out.
Best of luck to all of you.
PE
Valeant Welcome Kit for Salix Employees
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire