American Express Reviews in New York City, NY Area

Pros

Very supportive culture - ideas are widely shared and syndicated so everyone is brought along in the process. Management encourages movement every 1.5 - 2 years, so an employee can easily obtain a wide array of experiences across a discipline (markeitng, finance, etc). Generous flex work policy in certain business units. Amex is very good at fostering team building, employee engagement, charitable giving activities. Management regularly shares their views via Town Halls.

Cons

Every idea has to be syndicated/ approved - making change/ decision making painfully slow. Less pay vs. marketing/ CPG/ financial services/ payments companies. Likability is preferred over performance in many cases - which leads truly high performers to leave after the typical 3-5 year stint. The HSA health plan does not favor single earners. While movements within a business unit are encouraged, intra-business unit moves can be more difficult to effect.

Pros

Great work/ life balance. Heavy emphasis on promoting from within so once you get your foot in the door, you can move to a position in almost any part of the company. People tend to be very courteous and easy to get along with.

Cons

Compensation is not on the same level of other financial services companies. Lots of red tape can make it difficult to make even seemingly small changes.

Pros

Great people, great brand, great products.

Cons

Low salary, tough to move up the ladder.

Pros

Ability to work virtual. Ample vacation/personal/sick days. Smart and highly motivated client management and sales organizations especially in merchant services.

Cons

Passive aggressive and politically motivated culture. Comp is well below industry average. Too much time is spent on non-business building tasks i.e. performance mgmt (hours spent writing/rewriting lengthy reviews and dev plans, numerous meetings to discuss talent and argue over ratings), employee engagement (hours spent in meetings addressing low employee satisfaction survey scores and then executing activities which have little to no relevance to employees)

Advice to Senior Management

Improve compensation to be more competitive with industry. Reduce amout of time spent on performance management. Encourage constructive conflict. Push decision-making down to lower band levels to improve speed to market, accountability and innovation.

Pros

- Respect for Work/Life Balance
- Premium Brand for the ole Resume
- Opportunities to move around and follow your passions

Cons

- Professional pedigree of many colleagues leaves a lot to be desired
- Low end of pay scale, particularly for NYC
- Zero perks - I know the recession may have something to do with this, but can a brother get an free bagel or water bottle every now and again? Just sayin....

Pros

Good work life balance place to work....they allowed a lot of work at home

Cons

Getting a promotion is very hard at Amex

Pros

Lots of opportunity to learn, strong marketing discipline, talented individuals

Cons

Salaries not always competitive with marketplace

Advice to Senior Management

Keep communication up, reduce the politics

Pros

work life balance is generally good
interesting work content

Cons

passive aggressive culture
lower pay compared to competition

Pros

High caliber people, excellent career management resources, great benefits, good work/life balance.

Cons

Distinct corporate culture and highly structured environment may not be right for everyone

Pros

The hq for Amex is such a great place to work, phenomenal people, good work/life balance, good pay, great experience/resume builder. Very team oriented and middle mgmt specifically compensated on how well they develop future leaders. Loved working there, highly recommend it.

Cons

Cash bonuses could be higher, a little tough to live in NYC

Advice to Senior Management

stock comp to lower level employees.