DST Reviews

Pros

Stability, strength in market, opportunities for advancement

Cons

Old school policies, needs more innovation

Advice to Senior Management

N/A

Pros

Good health insurance and overall benefits, lots of days off but needed due to stressful and long hrs.

Cons

Long stressful hrs. No management responsibility for anything. You knew your start time and were expected to be there on time, but you had to stay until all the work got done which meant you never knew when you would be released to go home. Example I was scheduled to work 7:30-4:00 everyday but, if the work was not done @ 4 I would have to call home and let them know I didn't know for sure what time I would be home. Sometimes you would be there an extra 2 hrs or more. You felt like a modern day slave. And all of this for horrible salaries. This job drains you physically and mentally and I made just about the same money working 4 days a wk at my other job. If you questioned anything you were looked at as a problem because this caused management to have to act like they were working to resolve the issue, even if the thing you questioned made perfect sense they dreaded being questioned. They have you keep these group chats up so your fellow employees can answer your questions instead of management who are not on the phone and have more time and resources to answer you anyway...so basically the employees do all the training and resolving issues also...Example once in a group chat I had a client w/ a major problem and question that I needed help answering... My question sat in the group chat for 8 minutes no on answered me or helped me...meanwhile someone else put this in the chat " Does anyone have a fingernail clipper" immediately a manager goes " sure come over and see me". Perfect example of management not doing their jobs but having plenty of time to play around. I had to get up and go find someone to help me which is really helping the client who is the one w/ the problem. And the raises were a JOKE. (13 cent, 24cent....lol especially when you already work for pennies)

Advice to Senior Management

I have no advice for management since I know how this company works. Once you make it to management you don't have to answer to anyone you are set. So me the little guy means nothing.

Pros

Decent benefit package, tuition reimbursement, medical, dental, 50/50 arts discount, vacation time is accrued based upon time with the company. After 20 years any associate can earn 6 weeks of time off. Discounted covered parking, break rooms are okay.

Generous severance package

Cons

DST has a certain culture, that if you do not fit the mold, you will not succeed. All of the management I encountered had held positions in the organization for numerous years, many 20 plus. They do things a certain way because that's the way they've alway done it. There is not room for those who disagree or challenge that way of thinking. It is assumed you know their way, because everyone else does. This makes it difficult as an outsider to come into a non-entry level position and succeed.

The company quietly lays of a few people quarterly that they do not like or feel aren't performing. They are able to keep it out of the news as the numbers are low enough to not be news worthy. Another well know fact is the mutual fund business is changing and billing practices are causing DST to lose money. Management is very public with this knowledge. I wish I had know when I accepted the job that opportunities for growth were limited as management turnover is non-existent, the industry was losing money, and the company has a history of laying off employees.

I guess this will teach me to do my research better next job opportunity.

Advice to Senior Management

When I was laid off, I noticed a surplus of job opportunities posted at DST. Where were these opportunities when I worked at DST? I was not a good fit with the culture of my department, but would have welcomed the chance to find another department that was a better fit.

Layoffs and hiring are very expensive. For a company that is searching for the next profitable business venture, this makes little sense. DST is as most companies, very concerned about their reputation. As someone who moved from out of state, it did not take me long to hear negative feedback about working at State Street. I still occasionally hear comments. Soon it will be your company they are talking about.

If you want change, rid yourself of the stale thinking senior management. Bring in people who rock the boat. Group think doesn't work for anyone.

Pros

Coworkers were mostly fine people, hard-working and dedicated to their team. Salary and benefits were OK, and it was nice working for a place where you could trust that your paycheck wouldn't bounce.

Cons

They kept making do with less and less people, until you felt completely behind before you even got into the office in the morning. There was a constant shifting of priorities, and so you have to be flexible because you're constantly pulled from one project on fire to the next project on fire.

Pros

Benefits are good and stable.

Cons

Company has grown very big, but has made some poor decisions For example, their sub accounting initiative has been a flop because of poor leadership and lack of ownership. Manager assigned responsibility blamed everyone else.

Pros

Good Benefits, Management very approachable, Opportunities to Develop Professionally with online training programs, Good relationship with the local community and the arts

Cons

Low salaries, Not always very exciting work

Pros

Good Benefits. Made a lot of good friendships that I still have today.

Cons

The company is made up of mostly people waiting to retire. Promotions were non existent.

Advice to Senior Management

Get Younger

Pros

The good - fairly technically environment, relatively stable, some very technical people. The good people work very hard to keep the ship afloat while the bad sit back and watch the show.

Cons

The not so good - pay is below average for the KC reqion, heavily silo'd with regard to skillset, no WFH, always business casual attire regardless of role, have to pay for parking, commute downtown potentially sucks depending on where you live. There were more than a few worthless employees who served no purpose.

Compensation was lacking and raises were near non-existant. No real way to move up through the ranks unless you stayed with them for 10+ years, which is almost unheard of these days.

Advice to Senior Management

Management needs to seriously look at compensation. I took a 20% bump when I moved to my new position outside the company. With the negatives listed above, management is going to continue having challenges finding and keeping solid technical performers. Allowing some WFH and jeans days might help some, but ultimately people are leaving for 15-20% more pay than what they earned at DST.

Pros

Vacation time is nice; benefits are ok; good learning opportunities; most managers are flexible with time-off.

Cons

bad or late communication about important issues...from top to bottom management; benefits used to be much better; top performers pick up the slack for low performers...no consequences from management; feel unappreciated after years of hard work and dedication to the company; the review process is a joke...they review you based on how much they want to pay you; performance and attitude issues of the few are generalized and impact the entire department.

Advice to Senior Management

Middle management should stand up for their top performers instead of letting upper management dictate treatment and then pretend to care about their career. Executive management should understand the top performers will leave when the opportunity presents itself. The trust is gone and moral is low. Sending emails communicating how much harder and faster employees need to work is non-productive.

Pros

DST is a great company to work for, they provide excellent benefits. The pay is competitive but not comparative with similar industry salaries. The biggest pro about DST is that you make your own path at DST. If you are dissatisfied with what you are doing the ability to move with in the company to a similar position or completely new career field is available at your finger tips.

Cons

Telecommuting has been a major jump in recent years in technology. This is something I believe DST could benefit from, letting employees work from home.

Like I said above the salaries are competitive but not comparative in the field I work in. I have seen several similar positions where the pay was much higher.

Advice to Senior Management

I have heard recently that several employees have posted to different positions only to find that they have been filled with targeted employees. If a managers have targeted employees they should not post a position as if it is available to everyone.