Horrendous place for bright software developers to work - Software Development CME Group Employee Review

1.0
Mar 8, 2011
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There are some bright people but they are leaving at a fast rate.

Cons

This is the worst place to work for, for a good software developer. All the guys who can't program or can't do anything productive get promoted to Associated Directors. Then the same crappy folks are in charge of reviewing the performance of bright developers who do the real work ! It's like an inverse pyramid, they have got the rotten people on top, on an average there are 2 managers for each dev/qa/analyst person. Lot of red tape, politics goes on than real work, with so many Associate Directors it is normal to expect I presume. One person takes the status, another person print it in excel and brings it to the meetings, another person reads it in the meetings, another person takes meeting notes and emails it out. It takes on an average 10 years to build a new system cause of mismanagement and poor or no vision at all, that's why most work is maintenance/support work. All these factors naturally tend to promote mediocrity.

Explore other reviews about CME Group

5.0
May 11, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

good pay, interesting work, good people

Cons

very very little work life balance

3.0
May 12, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Friendly working environment. - Slow-paced and relaxed. - Opportunity to work on high-impact financial software. Quite useful if you want to get into a trading firm later on.

Cons

- Limited skill growth capability (tools are severely locked down, etc) - Work life balance can be shaky sometimes since systems fail after 5pm, weekend, etc. - Documentation is terribly organized. - Not enough focus on engineering culture. Overall probably not the best place to stick around if you like exploring new skills, building from the ground up, taking ownership etc.

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