By: Donagh Fitzgerald and Claire Wilson. Last Updated: Feb 2025

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What are the best pharma companies to work for? (according to their employees)

There are several metrics you can use to decide the “best” company. What employees say should definitely be considered.

We’ve taken employee submitted scores from two different websites and combined them to create a star rating system for Ireland’s pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing companies.

To be included in this list, a company had to have a review score on both of the websites.

To simplify this article, we’ve listed out the companies in groupings. No company scored above 4.5, so our highest ranked group is the 4-star group, who all scored 4.0 - 4.49 out of 5.

Image of 4 gold stars

4-Star Companies (scoring 4.00 - 4.49)

  • Novo Nordisk - approx 450 employees in Roscommon and Dublin
  • Pfizer - approx 5000 employees across Cork, Dublin and Kildare
  • GE Healthcare - approx 750 employees in Cork
  • Servier - approx 450 employees in Wicklow
  • Stryker - approx 5050 employees across Cork and Limerick
  • Lilly - approx 2500 employees in Cork (new plant opening in Limerick)
  • MSD - approx 2800 employees across Carlow, Cork, Dublin, Meath and Tipperary
  • Amgen - approx 1250 employees across Dublin & Waterford
  • Boston Scientific - approx 6500 employees across Cork, Galway and Tipperary
  • Novartis - approx 1000 employees in Dublin
  • Harmac Medical Products - approx 360 employees in Roscommon
image of 3 and a half gold stars

3.5-Star Companies (scoring 3.5 - 3.99)

  • Siemens Healthineers - approx 450 employees in Dublin
  • Edwards Lifesciences - approx 850 employees across Clare and Limerick
  • Regeneron - approx 1400 employees in Limerick
  • AbbVie - approx 2600 employees across Cork, Dublin, Mayo and Sligo
  • Johnson & Johnson - approx 5000 employees in Cork, Galway and Limerick
  • Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) - approx 650 employees in Dublin
  • Teleflex - approx 400 employees across Limerick and Westmeath
  • Ipsen - approx 175 employees in Dublin
  • Takeda - approx 900 employees across Dublin and Wicklow
  • Abbott - approx 5000 employees across Cavan, Donegal, Dublin, Kilkenny, Longford, Sligo and Tipperary
  • Alexion - approx 750 employees across Dublin and Roscommon
  • BD Medical - approx 1300 employees across Dublin, Limerick, Louth and Wexford
  • Medtronic - approx 4000 employees across Dublin, Galway and Westmeath
  • Zoetis - approx 450 employees across Dublin, Offaly and Wicklow
  • Sanofi - approx 800 employees across Dublin and Waterford
  • Viatris - approx 1600 employees across Cork, Dublin and Galway
  • BioMarin - approx 500 employees across Dublin & Cork
  • Jabil - approx 750 employees in Dublin and Waterford
  • B.Braun - approx 140 employees across Dublin and Sligo
  • Gilead Sciences - approx 550 employees across Dublin and Cork
  • Alcon - approx 700 employees in Cork
  • TE Connectivity - approx 1300 employees in Galway
  • Niche Generics - approx 50 employees across Dublin and Tipperary
  • Baxter - approx 2000 employees across Dublin and Mayo
  • Cook Medical  - approx 800 employees in Limerick
  • Zimmer Biomet - approx 800 employees across Clare and Galway
  • Haleon - approx 900 employees in Waterford
  • Aerogen - approx 500 employees across Clare and Galway
  • Teva - approx 650 employees in Waterford
  • Bausch & Lomb - approx 1500 employees in Waterford
  • Beckman Coulter - approx 550 employees in Clare
  • West Pharma - approx 780 employees across Dublin and Waterford
  • Aeire Pharmaceuticals - approx 70 employees in Westmeath
Image of 3 gold stars

3-Star Companies (scoring 3.0 - 3.49)

  • Leo Pharma - approx 550 employees in Cork and Dublin
  • Astellas - approx 400 employees in Dublin and Kerry
  • Integer - approx 1300 employees across Galway and Wexford
  • Almac - approx 4000 employees across Armagh, Louth and Westmeath  
  • Jazz Pharmaceuticals - approx 150 employees in Dublin & Roscommon
  • Sanmina - approx 200 employees in Cork
  • Surmodics - approx 60 employees in Galway
  • Merit Medical - approx 1000 employees in Galway 
  • Merck - approx 800 employees across Cork and Wicklow
  • ArcRoyal - approx 175 employees in Meath
  • Helsinn - approx 170 employees in Dublin
  • Charles River Laboratories - approx 170 employees in Mayo 
  • WuXi - approx 440 employees in Louth
  • Goodman Medical - approx 140 employees in Galway
  • Chanelle Group - approx 730 in Galway
  • Bimeda - approx 80 employees in Dublin
  • Hovione - approx 200 employees in Cork

References

Scores were taken from Glassdoor and Indeed in Feb 2025

BTW, if you are interested in upskilling for a better job or a promotion in the Pharmaceutical or Medtech industries, or are considering a career change into this sector, check out our range of pharmaceutical courses.