Exact Sciences

"The Precision Oncology division requires you to work hybrid or onsite and be located near one of the physical sites for marketing communications roles, while other divisions offer more flexibility. I felt a clear bias against me as a woman, as a non-scientist working on the commercial side of the business, and as someone living in the Midwest (most colleagues are located in the Bay Area or Boston). Others on the team could fly in from a remote work location and stay in a hotel for in person meetings, but I was not allowed to convert from contract to permanent because I would not move, even though my immediate team, including my boss and my boss' boss wanted me to stay. I am puzzled why the leaders cling to in-person work policies. Fortunately for me, I found a permanent role with a competitor that pays significantly more and has remote-first work policies. There seems to be a lot of employee churn due to the onsite work policies. It's a shame, because it is a good company with a great mission. My advice to leadership in Precision Oncology: Let go of the control you think you have over your employees whose roles can be done remotely by forcing them to work on site or hybrid, taking Zoom meetings in the office they could have more easily taken at home. You will lose the war for talent in the NGS space if you don't flex. "

"For the first time in my two-decade career as a scientist, I am in the majority as a woman. I have a Director level role, and my peers are mostly women. Approximately half the lead roles at the company are held by women, which is not often the case in Pharma/Biotech. On a regular basis, I am inspired by the cross functional collaboration, and the overall culture in respecting women and their ideas. I have never heard a sexist comment, I have always felt respected, the work-life balance is supported and encouraged, and women are empowered and celebrated by our male colleagues. Sometimes I feel funny saying "women and men" because we operate and succeed as "one team of people". We are all on a level playing field and we have so many wins to celebrate."