The 5th annual survey from The Scientist has some surprising results, given that a few of the biggest drugmakers are undergoing reorganizations and slashing numerous jobs. Still, these are big places and some departments are, of course, faring better than others.

The magazine queried folks from 248 companies and asked them to grade their work environment based on 45 criteria in eight categories, including internal communications, quality of the research environment, and opportunities for training and development.

What’s most important? Employees at companies of all sizes say it’s a feeling of personal satisfaction they get from the job. And the most important category? Management quality, such as it is.

Here are the top 15 large companies:

1. Novartis, Cambridge, MA
2. Amgen, Thousand Oaks, CA
3. Merck & Co., Whitehouse Station, NJ
4. Sandoz, Holzkirchen, Germany
5. Wyeth, Madison, NJ
6. AstraZeneca, London
7. Pfizer, New York
8. Sanofi Aventis, Paris
9. GlaxoSmithKline, London
10. Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, NJ
11. Bristol-Myers Squibb, New York
12. Pioneer Hi-Bred, Johnston, Iowa
13. Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, IL
14. Eli Lilly & Co., Indianapolis, IN
15. Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA

And here are the top 15 small companies:

1. Tec Laboratories, Albany, OR
2. TransForm Pharmaceuticals, Lexington, MA
3. Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Durham, NC
4. Biogen Idec, Cambridge, MA
5. Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, MA
6. Otsuka Maryland Medicinal Laboratories, Rockville, MD
7. Amylin Pharmaceuticals, San Diego, CA
8. Targacept, Winston-Salem, NC
9. Lundbeck Research USA, Paramus, NJ
10. Qiagen, Venlo, The Netherlands
11. Hexal, Holzkirchen, Germany
12. Exelixis, San Francisco, CA
13. Asterand, Detroit, MI
14. H. Lundbeck, Copenhagen, Denmark
15. Lexicon Genetics, The Woodlands, TX

Further reading…
The Scientist (subscription required)

Hat Tip to the Insider for reminding us.
[tags]Jobs[/tags]