New mobile working options boost agility at MSD Switzerland

January 4, 2021 8:00 am ET

The MSD (Merck Sharp & Dohme) group is implementing a new policy allowing more flexibility for home office. In future, each employee will be free to determine how much or how often they work remotely.

The introduction of this policy derives from the company-wide initiative to create New Ways of Working, launched in 2018. A prime goal of New Ways of Working is to reimagine the workplace to enhance collaboration, networking, employee experience and their ability to respond quickly to changing business needs. The new «Work From Home Policy» introduces a high degree of flexibility to offer employees the possibility to select their workplace according to their preferences and business requirements while maintaining the best possible work-life balance.

Since March, most MSD Switzerland employees worked from home because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The experience proved to be a real-time stress test for both, management culture and communications infrastructure.

Ans Heirman, Managing Director MSD Switzerland, elaborates, “Everyone has had to adapt to and adopt new ways of working to ensure our medicines and vaccines continued to reach those who needed them. Our collaborative skills and our communications channels stood the test. I think we have renewed confidence in our ability to get the job done – wherever we are and at any time. That said, we now have a better understanding of the advantages and limitations of remote working which ensures we can use this option more productively in the future and offering our employees the best possible solution for them.”

The new working from home policy is therefore just one strand in the on-going New Ways of Working process to develop a work environment that is as dynamic and diverse as the work itself and that allows all employees to fulfil their potential.

About MSD in Switzerland

MSD Switzerland employs over 1000 people working in local, regional and global functions across four sites in the canton of Lucerne and one site in the canton of Zurich.
Our business activities are subdivided in the two divisions, Human Health and Animal Health.

MSD Human Health covers a broad range of biopharmaceuticals. Our areas of research and development are focusing on Oncology and Immuno-Oncology as well as Vaccines to prevent diseases for children, young people, and adults against Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), Ebola, Hepatitis, Pneumococcus, Meningococcus, Measles, Rubella, Chickenpox and Herpes Zoster. In addition, MSD is conducting research in the area of infectious diseases to find new therapeutic approaches for antibiotic resistance, HIV/Aids and Hepatitis C. Further research focuses include immunology (auto-immune diseases) as well as cardio-metabolic diseases and Diabetes. MSD has a long-lasting legacy in contributing to major public health challenges, such as River Blindness, Ebola and SARS-CoV-2.

MSD Animal Health develops and markets products for the prevention, treatment and control of disease in farm animals and pets. With the most innovative and largest product portfolio for animal health in Switzerland, MSD contributes substantially to animals’ well-being.

Our company has one of the largest clinical research programs worldwide. MSD Switzerland conducts 25 clinical trials per year for which the required medicines are manufactured at our research & development site in Schachen. The Schachen site operates since 2018 one of the three MSD forensic laboratories worldwide, investigating in manipulations and counterfeiting of MSD products – an important contribution to patient safety.

At the newly opened Zurich site “The Circle”, our company sets the focus on research & development, data management and the commercialization of our medicines and vaccines. The Zurich hub offers a state-of-the-art work environment where our empowered, culturally diverse and inclusive workforce focuses on scientific excellence to improve people’s health.

MSD Switzerland plays an active role in its community and supports a range of local and regional initiatives as for example MSD for mothers, the health congress “Trendtage Gesundheit Luzern”, and the Swiss City Marathon Lucerne.
Since 2013, MSD Switzerland has been continuously certified as a Top Employer and is pioneering a gender-neutral parental leave program for employees.

For more information www.msd.ch, www.de.msd-animal-health.ch

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About MSD

For more than 125 years, MSD has been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the world’s most challenging diseases in pursuit of our mission to save and improve lives. MSD is a trade name of Merck & Co., Inc., with headquarters in Kenilworth, N.J., U.S.A. We demonstrate our commitment to patients and population health by increasing access to healthcare through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. Today, MSD continues to be at the forefront of research to prevent and treat diseases that threaten people and animals — including cancer, infectious diseases such as HIV and Ebola, and emerging animal diseases — as we aspire to be the premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company in the world.

For more information, visit www.msd.com and connect with us on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.

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Media department MSD Switzerland

media.switzerland@msd.com | Tel. 058 618 30 30
Jean-Blaise Defago (Policy & Communications Director)

© 2021 Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA and its affiliates. All rights reserved.

CH-NON-00934, 01/2021