Swiss Re America Reviews

Pros

good work and social life balance, good benefits. Appears that senior management actually values employees input and typically results in change.

Cons

- Wish that all employees were required to work in a office
- Company philosophy is to stay trim by keeping a low employee head count. Alot of work is also contracted out to 3rd party vendors.
-

Advice to Senior Management

- regionalize operations to the states rather than having centralizing decision making and management to Zurich, Switzerland
- It would be better if each main city office had a full staff rather than having team members in different cities.
- Host more employee team building activities - happy hours, bowling, various activities...

Pros

- Work/Life Balance
- Travel
- Professional Development in certification courses
- Flexible hours that do not drive you crazy

Cons

- Lack of inspiration from upper management: Very mature company in a mature industry. Cannot think outside the box
- If Zurich says jump, New York says how high
- Non-transferable skill set when looking to leave
- Hypocrisy in upper management value message and execution
- Lack of vision
- Personally believe that Swiss Re, in the next market down cycle, will suffer severe repercussions for their inability to hedge highly exposed balance sheet

Advice to Senior Management

- Stop being scared. Use the talent around you to achieve greatness. You are not relegated to only one sector or industry. Take a lesson from the Buffets of the world and diversify.

Pros

- Nice offices, centrally located in midtown
- Staff of great people, overall are friendly, pleasant and cordial
- Competitive salary, good benefits medical/dental/ 401k matching/ EPP
- Some work long hours but the majority do not
-Hard to get fired, they'll shift you around if you're a good egg

Cons

-Although we are in US, very Swiss German environment
- Too much focus on bureaucracy versus effectiveness
- Good OL Boys network
- Poor communication from management
- Human Resources caters to SVP levels and above
- CFO of Admin Re & AM finance

Advice to Senior Management

All the mixed messages from management over the past 3 years have really hurt morale. Weed out bad seeds and be consistent in your message. It makes us feel you have no idea what you are doing.

Pros

Has the capital to do big deals, so customers seek Swiss Re for big, complex, deals

Cons

Every important job has to be in Zurich. Respect and advancement of women is, well, non-existent. They talk the talk about diversity, but don't walk the walk.

Advice to Senior Management

Competitors are waiting in the wings for Swiss Re employees. As soon as the market turns hard, I expect there to be a lot of staff jumping to a competitor.

Pros

Benefits are good and co-workers in the Overland Park office are competent and very friendly (Midwest people!).

Cons

Used to be a great place to work when GE owned it, but now the morale is low and employees (especially the Kansas office) are treated as dispensable. Unqualified, egotistical managers from the NY office trying to supervise people who they don't know and never see - not a great system!

Advice to Senior Management

Think of your employees as human beings! Realize that the ones who do the work that actually keeps your company going are the very people you treat as fungible commodities.

Pros

- work life balance
- friendly atmosphere
- reasonably strong brand and market position
- good underwriting systems

Cons

- poor senior management, does not have the skills required to lead an organisation of this size and is obsessed with investor "story-telling" at the expense of tackling the important value drivers
- inward focused

Advice to Senior Management

start focusing on clients

Pros

Good benefits. Salaries are okay.

Cons

Matrix reorg has left everyone confused with roles and responsibilities.
Lack of work/life balance.
Management discourages collaboration, favors silos.
Front office disconnect with back office.

Advice to Senior Management

Get rid of matrix, centers of competence discourages collaboration.

Pros

It's a great company to work for when it comes to compensation and benefits. The management direction at this time due to senior management turn over so only time will tell how thiongs will turn out. If the company starts making decent profits again then it will continue to be a great place to work. There is a move to reduce head count at this time.

Cons

The company is reducing head count so it's very stressfull right now. The management structure is primarily based in Zurich and it seems they are not really in touch with their US based employees. It's sometimes very difficult to get things done with no local decision making authority.

Advice to Senior Management

Re-evaluate the decision to remove management from the US.