Bloomberg L.P. Reviews in United Kingdom

Pros

v good work life balance, holidays, traveling, transparency

Cons

lack of true expertise, market experince

Advice to Senior Management

spend more time discussing and explaining strategic moves

Pros

Many people from differents countries,big multinational

Cons

you have not contact with the management team

Advice to Senior Management

Speak more with the team

Pros

Start on £30k and it's an easy intro to finance. The office is nice and there are great networking opportunities if you get to know the right people in news or sales. If your career goal is to become a manager it's very quick to progress - some people get promotions within a month.

Lots of different nationalities within the office too.

Cons

Management is known to be terrible (perhaps for reason above) so turnover rate within the company is very high. Anyone who is intelligent but does not wish to join management tends to leave within 1.5 - 2 years.Due to this the people in each team always have newbies who lack specialist knowledge.

Also, the company is hugely bureaucratic which frustrates anyone with any intelligence or strong work ethic.

Advice to Senior Management

There is an obsession with loyalty so that just staying within the company means people get promoted regardless of ability. As a result there are managers who've been with the company 10+ years who are clearly incompetent but aren't moved on. This results in frustration for lots of people.

More of an effort should be made to keep the best people - we all know who these people are and seeing them move on at the first opportunity says a lot to even the newest people in each team.

Pros

The young and vibrant employees, the free food, the perks like free tickets to concerts

Cons

Very hectic and demanding lifestyle, work on weekends, horrible bosses

Advice to Senior Management

Choose team leaders wisely and very carefully - it might make or break your company's future success

Pros

Great offices, good investment by the company in infrastructure, support given to some employees is outstanding. Salaries tend to be better than average and benefits package is very good.

Cons

The 'Bloomberg Way' is never explained, just referred to. Your face fits or it doesn't. Senior managers are given too much freedom to be petty and antagonistic if that is their way.

Advice to Senior Management

Good people management skills should be valued and taught.

Pros

You are recognized for the good work to do.
You are also given freedom to be entrepreneurial and explore different ideas.
You learn a lot and people are generally quite friendly.

Cons

Pay is ok but not competitive enough vis a vis similar companies.
Micromanagement at times and metrics overload at times.

Advice to Senior Management

Pay needs to be increased. Reduce micromanagement; you've trained your employees well, trust them. Overall a great company to work for.

Pros

Really professional and amazing culture. Also my team is multicultural and we have great relations. A really nice place to work in London city.

Cons

The most important downside for my is the working hours. They are not really flexible with them. But also the same happens in the most companies.

Pros

Pantry
Networking with several cultures
Philantropy and projects
Open 24/7
Beatiful Offices

Cons

Salary
Lack-of respect
Prejudice
Repetitive jobs
Culture
Working hours

Advice to Senior Management

Communication, Communication and Communication
Don't think that people believe in poor arguments to make them work harder

Pros

Good benefits package. Relatively easier to get a job than in other city firms.

Cons

Flat organisational structure. Limited opportunities for promotion. No senior titles. One can get promoted only to TL level and then to head of the department, which is quite unlikely. Many people who get promoted to TL level come from different departments and have no expert knowledge to guide and practically help you in the first year or so (well, they catch up in about a year under high work pressure).
Pay increase is miserable. New recruits get more money than someone who worked for years. New recruits are enticed with competitive starting salary, but it rarely increases beyond inflation rate in the following years unless you get promoted to TL level. There is trivial difference in pay increase for stars and good performers. Not enough financial stimulus to deliver outstanding job.
Global data is one of the worst departments in the company in terms of pay vs. work hours.

Advice to Senior Management

People are running from company after the first year because they are not financially recognized for their hard work. Please understand that 1K difference in salary increase for a star and non-star is not adequate recognition of good work (I'd say it's rather a spat in the face). It's demotivating and demoralizing, indeed. Introduce better scheme for rewarding financially the best people and you'll see much better work quality with more motivated personnel.

Pros

Smart & interesting colleagues, work/life balance (i.e. good 8-5 job) and good overall benefits and job security. Free private healthcare, discounts on theatre tickets, etc.

Cons

Slightly less pay than an IB, some middle management can be incompetent, metrics questionable for quality performance.

Related to management - inexperienced or insecure ones most likely to treat people like children.

Advice to Senior Management

Promote on competence, not on flair. Some great potential for better managers but need a better system to pick them out.