SCOR Reinsurance Reviews

Pros

-The company has emerged from the financial crisis of 2008 unscathed. *
-It has recently been upgraded to A by AM Best.
-It enjoys a strong reputation in the industry for being a leader. (5th largest reinsurer by NWP P&C.)
-Competitive benefits for educational pursuits.

*I should add, despite its strong position after the crisis, SCOR did very little to capitalize on its temporary advantage.

Cons

-The company has not modernized. The company has the ability to turn interesting jobs into mindless data entry. It only takes a few months for you to start hating your job.
-It's the company of multiple bosses. You will have at least two people you report to.
-Very limited opportunity to advance because everything is political. You have to fight for every small bit of chump change.
-The company runs a very lean shop. Low pay, plus few employees to do the task is a huge demotivator. In fact, I've often imagined this was how things are run in socialist countries. Little mobility, class structure already in place, and no matter how hard or how competent you are, you will be stuck in the same place with no chance of upward movement.
-Most people you work with will be unhappy. It's not very fun going to work every day and then hearing how most people in the office hate their jobs and the company.
-Due to low pay, the company attracts a thin layer of talent. If you have any talent, you will not be there long. And for the folks that are here for the long term, there aren't many mentors to give them any skills that will raise their profile.

Advice to Senior Management

Denis, I think you've done a great job managing the financial crisis back in '08. You're a visionary when it comes to forecasting things such as inflation/deflation. However, one thing you are not is an underwriter. SCOR has not done anything different on the underwriting side that wasn't done two decades ago. This is probably the result of the ivory towers that management lives in. No one has the incentive to push the envelope as you have within other companies. Everything is so hierarchical it's demotivating to any employee that works hard and expects that good things will come their way.