Drug firms help out working women

Ten pharmaceutical companies are among the 100 best companies for working mothers, according to Working Mother magazine.

Working Mother rated the nation's companies according to pay, opportunities for advancement, child care, flexibility, family-friendly benefits and work/life support. Researchers for the magazine discovered that companies are offering more ways to meet employees' dependent care needs, encouraging greater use of in-place flexible scheduling and telecommuting, and implementing policies to help women climb their corporations' ladders.

They also noted that companies are working harder at providing better amenities, such as on-site cafeterias and fitness centers.

The results appear in the October issue of the magazine.

For the thirteenth year - as long as Working Mother has been naming a top 100 - Johnson & Johnson and Merck & Co. were named top companies for working women.

Of Johnson & Johnson's 34,519 employees, 16,914 (49%) are women; of Merck's 32,527 employees, 17, 174 (53%) are women.

Hoffman-LaRoche Inc. was named to the list for the eighth time, after a brief absence. The company which employs 5,611 employees, has a female work force of 2,562, or 50%.

It was reintroduced to the list this year after it developed a formal policy requiring top management to devise strategies for the development of its high-potential women. Working Mother applauded the program for improving women's chances for career advancement.

"There's a war for talent in the pharmaceutical industry, so being named among the top companies for working mothers is extremely meaningful for Roche," said Stephen Grossman, vice president of human resources for Hoffman-LaRoche.

Glaxo Wellcome made the list for the seventh time and Eli Lilly, Warner Lambert and DuPont Pharmaceuticals found themselves on the list for the fourth time. Newcomers included Bristol-Myers Squibb, American Home Products and Pfizer Labs. PR