We work in a fast-paced environment, where ambitions and expectations are high. As such, it is important that we attract, retain, and advance top talent from all backgrounds and cultures. During the recruitment process, we seek to attract a diverse pool of candidates, focusing on the skill set they offer and matching their competencies to the behaviors we expect our people to live by daily and to the key qualifications required to fulfill the role.

Our future as a company depends on a workplace that enables employees to achieve their full potential – both at work and outside the office.

 

We seek to recruit, develop and retain talented individuals who want to make a difference to the lives of patients across the globe. We regularly assess our talent to identify high performance and provide support for those who display potential for further growth – e.g. through further education, leadership training and on-the-job assignments.

 

To support our people in achieving their full potential, our permanent employees globally can participate in a wide range of internal and external learning and development programs, designed to meet learning objectives and development needs, as well as supporting overall employee wellbeing.

Our Learning and Development Guide supports employees in identifying goals and learning objectives, personal aspirations and development actions. We emphasize results-oriented coaching, encourage internal mentorship, offer a variety of training programs, and fully support language learning.

Idorsia provides financial assistance to employees who wish to advance their education through an accredited university or business school.

We regularly assess our talent to identify high performance and provide support for those who display potential for further growth. For employees taking on additional responsibilities, we have a leadership program designed to help managers become great leaders. Coaching and mentoring programs are also offered to employees on a global scale.

Programs to upgrade employee skills cover both soft and more technical. New programs are offered based on employees’ development needs and on relevance to job fulfillment and performance objectives; they are identified through our verified network of training program providers.

At our headquarters in Allschwil, for example, soft skills programs include training relating to constructive communication, interviewing skills, cross-cultural communication, effectiveness for long-term performance and well-being, persuading and influencing, leadership courses for new or newly appointed managers, and various levels of programs for employees seeking to improve presentation skills.

In the US, we offer professional work development training on such topics as Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Work (all employees), Employment Law Essentials for Managers (people managers only) and Preventing Discrimination & Harassment (all employees). A variety of career-based training and development programs are available, both internal and external.

In every geographical location, on top of our competitive compensation structure for permanent employees (comprising base salary, discretionary annual bonus, and long-term incentive plan for eligible employees), we offer a wide range of benefits aimed at making the life of our employees balanced, enriched and enjoyable.

Benefits include health, pension, disability and maternity benefits. Depending on local requirements, additional benefits may be available.

For example, at our headquarters in Switzerland, we offer subsidized on-site daycare for children from age 3 months to 6 years. There are also various free-time benefits relating to cultural and sporting activities. In addition to our stock-based programs, we recognize individual long-term engagement with Idorsia through a special “anniversary vacation” (4 weeks’ fully paid sabbatical leave) when employees reach their 10th, 20th and 30th anniversary of employment with Idorsia. Disconnecting from work for an extended period to pursue personal interests leaves employees energized and ready to immerse themselves when they return.

Employee recognition, when delivered effectively, is a powerful engagement tool for driving desired behaviors and achieving organizational goals. Our cutting-edge people management practices transparently align our work with the company’s strategy, fostering a culture of continuous feedback.

We recognize extraordinary achievements and emphasize the importance of working in teams, while providing meaningful development opportunities.

Our simple and transparent reward and recognition philosophy is based on engaging everyone in an entrepreneurial approach to long-term value creation.

At Idorsia, we harness the power of difference to achieve business success: our employees come from diverse cultural backgrounds, representing over 38 nationalities.

We are committed to creating an inclusive culture that allows every employee to maximize their potential with equal opportunities. We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind. 

In 2020, we conducted a gender equal pay analysis, which encouragingly revealed that there are no relevant differences in pay between men and women at the Swiss Headquarters of Idorsia. The required standard regression analysis – validated by external auditors – of the effect of gender on base salary, and on base salary including annual bonus, showed a non-significant difference of -0.34% and -0.49% in favor of men, respectively, which is well within the 5% tolerance threshold specified by the Federal Office for Gender Equality.

In 2022, we repeated the gender pay equity analysis for Switzerland which again resulted in the confirmation of our equal pay practice. Idorsia is dedicated to fostering respect, fairness and equal opportunities for all our employees and is committed to monitoring gender pay equity on an ongoing basis, and starting to review pay equity globally.

As a growing company, it is important that we attract, retain and advance top talent from all backgrounds and cultures. During the recruitment process, we seek to attract a diverse pool of candidates, focusing on the skill set they offer and matching their competencies to the behaviors we expect our people to live by daily and to the key qualifications required to fulfill the role.

Our people are committed to making Idorsia a leading biopharmaceutical company, while at the same time developing both personally and professionally.

Our headquarters are located in Allschwil (near Basel, Switzerland), close to the borders with France and Germany, and approximately two thirds of our employees are Swiss, French or German.

Compensation principles

Supporting the business strategy and fostering the commitment of all employees to the company’s key strategic priorities, while supporting Idorsia’s business and organizational culture.

Health, Safety & Well-being

As our employees are at the heart of everything we do, it is essential that we safeguard their well-being and remain attentive to any health and safety hazards, over and above regulatory compliance.
 

Optimizing employee health, safety and well-being is important to our work. We believe that it not only benefits our employees but also helps to reduce absence-related costs, increases productivity and drives business success. We focus on preventing both work-related and non-work-related accidents and injuries, as well as enabling employees to improve their health and well-being at work and at home. 

An important part of cultivating a healthy workplace is investing in our employees’ awareness of their own health through strategies such as health screening and emotional health offerings. In addition, we have numerous employee Health & Well-being programs and support services in place, including on-site massages, medical checkups for employees working in laboratories, risk analyses for pregnant women, support during pregnancy and breastfeeding time, annual flu shots, relaxation pods, discount on gym memberships, and ergonomic consulting for the workplace.

As the well-being of our employees is a top priority for us, we have put in place various programs to support mental health and well-being globally. We also run disease awareness campaigns for our employees globally via our intranet, and at headquarters this also includes on-site events. We regularly organize internal campaigns to raise awareness of common diseases that could affect our employees, such as breast cancer, testicular cancer and mental health issues.

Resilience is a key resource to support each employee through the crucial phase of building our company, enabling them to carry out their projects while becoming more innovative and pragmatic, working well in teams, and engaging in continuous learning. The Resilience Coaching Program allows employees and managers at headquarters to work individually with an external executive coach. A resilience resource page is also available on our intranet to facilitate access to books, videos, TED talks, MOOCs and articles for all employees worldwide.

Employee Assistance Programs are available to all permanent, temporary and hourly paid employees at our headquarters in Allschwil. These consist of eight hours of free, confidential social counseling provided in partnership with an external employee assistance agency, as well as a wide range of resources. Coaching sessions are available for employees who are currently encountering personal or work-related issues.

Similar programs are offered to our employees in the US: Mental and Physical Health & Well-Being (via our benefit providers), an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and Financial Wellness (involving financial/retirement education).

In 2021, we launched “Mental Health Matters”, a campaign to support our employees with training, tools and further resources for better mental health. This campaign supplements existing counseling and coaching services, which are offered, for example, to all permanent, temporary and hourly-paid employees at Idorsia’s headquarters in Switzerland, with support services in other countries varying.

All new Idorsia employees attend a health and safety introduction which include elements such as basic safety information, policies, duties, fire evacuation, and first aid. In addition, new employees working in laboratories undergo both theoretical and practical training which includes topics such as proper, usage of Personal Protective Equipment, fit testing of masks, storage of chemicals, safety rules for working in laboratories, procedures in case of a lab accident, and other key topics.

Internal audits in occupational health and safety are performed in all research laboratories. For each field of occupational safety (e.g., chemical, biological and radiation safety), we provide comprehensive trainings and instructions, especially for new employees. In addition, eye washing, fire extinguisher, and spill kit trainings are performed for employees working in the laboratories.

Annual protective suit training and fire-extinguishing training is also provided for laboratory and research employees and annual workshop safety training for site management departments. Regular training sessions are conducted in the areas of biosafety, radiation protection and laser protection as well as CPR and AED courses which are provided to employees at headquarters by Idorsia’s first aid team.