Merck has made a sustained and substantive investment to leverage diversity and inclusion as a key growth strategy in recruiting, retention and leadership development programs.

Business Employee Resource Groups

Business Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are one of the ways that Merck intentionally drives inclusion best practices for its employees. For employees who share similar affiliation, the ERGs represent excellent opportunities to support and contribute to the company's business goals, network, engage in community outreach, host cultural celebrations, participate in leadership development opportunities, and provide business insights to Merck leaders. The employee members volunteer to serve as an educational and cultural resource for other employees and business groups within the company, and to act as contact points for Merck's external community. These groups include employees from all levels. ERG membership and participation in ERG-hosted events are open to any full- or part-time employee.

Currently there are eight employee groups at Merck: Merck Women's Network (MWN), League of Employees of African Descent (LEAD), Merck Hispanic Organization (MHO), Veterans Leadership Network (VLN), Merck Rainbow Alliance (MRA), Asia Pacific Association (APA), Merck Allies for Disabilities (MAD), Merck Interfaith Organization (MIO).

Recruiting

We have established several recruiting initiatives designed to seek and attract diverse job candidates:

United Negro College Fund: Despite statistics suggesting that more than 50 percent of new entrants into tomorrow's workforce will be minorities, African-Americans currently hold less than three percent of PhDs in biology and chemistry. To help address this imbalance, Merck joined with the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) to help expand the pool of world-class African-American biomedical scientists and, in so doing, to achieve the complementary goals of enhancing economic competitiveness and social diversity in the United States.

The UNCF/Merck Science Initiative (USMI) was first announced in July 1995, with a ten-year, $20 million grant from Merck to the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). A unique partnership,administered by UNCF, the UMSI was renewed for an additional five years with a $13.1 million commitment, which began with the 2006 award year. In 2010, UMSI was granted another renewal for an additional five years to extend operations through 2015. Since its inception, the Initiative has made 554 awards.

National Alliance for Hispanic Health: In 2008, working with the National Alliance for Hispanic Health, we launched a program to promote science education, the Alliance/Merck Ciencia (Science) Hispanic Scholars Program. The program is designed to help Hispanic students achieve access to higher education and to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Veterans and People with Disabilities: In 2010, Merck formed a new recruiting council made up of senior recruiters from each division, along with representatives from the Business Employee Resource Groups, Veterans Leadership Network and Merck Allies for Disabilities, to develop a recruiting strategy to attract and retain talent from these two constituencies. The council formed new partnerships with external recruiting partners such as Service Academy Career Conferences; Equal Opportunity Employers Career Expo for People with Disabilities and Disabled Veterans; Walter Reed Wounded Warriors Career Fair; and Milicruit Virtual Military Career Fairs. The Service Academy Career Conference is attended by officers with a minimum of five years of veteran experience who have demonstrated leadership skills that are transferable to Merck.

American Association for the Advancement of Sciences and the National Institute for the Deaf: Merck has partnered with the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS) and the National Institute for the Deaf (NTID) since 2004 to source interns with disabilities in science, engineering, mathematics, computer sciences and other select fields of business. Merck has also partnered, since 2009, with the Emerging Leaders program managed by the National Business and Disability Council to hire interns and entry-level talent.

Career Opportunities for Students with Disabilities: The company collaborates with Career Opportunities for Students with Disabilities (COSD) to learn how to more effectively prepare students with disabilities for recruitment in the industry.

Diversity Conferences: Merck partners with several diversity-focused professional organizations in order to find diverse talent for entry-level through professional-level positions within the company, targeting African Americans, Hispanics and the LGBT community. We are able to target diverse constituencies through our relationships with such organizations as the National Black MBA, the National Society of Hispanic MBAs and Reaching Out MBA. We also partner with several minority engineering conferences like Black Engineer of the Year Award Conference, National Society of Black Engineers, Society of Hispanic Professionals and Society of Women Engineers in an effort to source qualified engineering talent. Moreover we partner with several minority research science organizations like the National Organization of Black Chemist and Chemical Engineers, Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, and the American Indian Science and Engineering Society in an effort to increase the diverse talent in our Merck Research Laboratory division.

Training & Leadership Development

Merck offers employees a variety of training programs and development opportunities that reinforce our commitment to diversity and inclusion. Courses such as "Microinequities, Managing Across Cultures" give employees an opportunity to learn about and address noninclusive behaviors and different cultures. To date, more than 22,000 employees have taken the Microinequities course. Employees can also take advantage of external opportunities such as leadership conferences and workshops sponsored by Merck. Additionally, employees have access to an open mentoring tool that matches mentors and mentees and provides guidance to support mentoring.

In 2011, Merck piloted the Women's Leadership Development Program, which is designed to develop strong, director-level talent. A global initiative that Merck/MSD launched at Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts, the program focuses on skills development, knowledge sharing and individual coaching to help grow, improve and position women as future Merck leaders. The specific objectives of the program are to:

• Develop a talent pool to increase leadership diversity and improve business results
• Reflect the diverse nature of our customer base
• Increase retention of high-potential women leaders
• Be viewed as an employer of choice for senior women
• Create more opportunities for women's career advancement

Disability Mentoring Day is an opportunity to promote career development for students and job seekers with disabilities through job shadowing and hands-on career exploration. It provides an opportunity to emphasize connections between school and work, evaluate personal goals, and explore possible career paths.