Principal Financial Group Reviews

Pros

+ Fosters a collaborative work environment where teamwork is encouraged. Lots of opportunities to grow, learn, and cultivate knowledge from various disciplines. The company is a huge proponent of innovation i.e., Cloud computing and continuous learning. + The company recognizes the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance. PFG provides its employees with a supportive and flexible work environment. Back when I was still employed, there were no PTO limits, as long as you kept good performance and did your work.

Cons

+ PFG lacks competitive compensation as far as salaries go, especially after performance reviews. But, what the company lacks in salaries, they make up with their employee benefits. + High workload and tight deadlines. Most, if not, all of the work is dictated by business. Depending on the team, there may be a lot of meetings.

Pros

It was a little crazy when we first started. It’s fun working on the business side of things. Leave is accrued at 6.2 hours per pay period. Health insurance is good. The pay is decent, but it could be way better.

Cons

Too many moving parts ; too many different departments handling different things. You become a jack of all trades and a master of little. I’d prefer more leave and a more organized structure. They are working on making changes though.

Pros

-Good company culture -flexible working arrangements -main campus is neat

Cons

-pay is well below peers in the retirement industry -opaque employee review process -absurd workloads across every segment of the business with little to no support or wage increases -very little in the way of work/life balance - people are often not trained for the roles that they're taking on before being put into production -C-suite and CEO are largely out of touch with the rank and file

Pros

Great Hours, the only thing I can't complain about.

Cons

Management comes to meetings in bath robe when she showed up; advised of system issues and no resolution came until I was on a list for adherence issues and THEN she put me in touch with someone who fixed the issue immediately. Manager didn't know how to put in segments for make up time in schedule, took an hour to show me and still had to pass it on to one of my colleagues to show me how to properly do it. No communication to understand how much time can be used in system issues until you are written up. Manager does not know how to do the job. Opportunities were not clearly laid out AND I am being paid beneath the salary range for the job per the internal guidelines.

Pros

Cares about employees. Work life balance. Flexible.

Cons

No cons, enjoy working for the company.

Pros

They seem to be remote work friendly.

Cons

I became a Principal employee through their recent acquisition of Wells Fargo Retirement division (IRT). The entire transition process was a disaster, leadership was largely absent and didn't give the impression that former IRT employees were valued. We truly were the ones that kept things from completely falling apart. We were moved over at the same pay rate, however, our roles at Principal came with many added responsibilities. Due to this, the position paid much more than our IRT pay. Principal refused to adjust pay to the position's pay scale which effectively made you work at a discount (actually paid below the position's minimum). This position in particular was instrumental in retaining clients, the majority of which did not like most things at Principal. No leadership, operational failures galore, angry clients, and paid under the pay range minimum. I stuck it out for a year post-transition in hopes that things would improve, they did not.

Pros

Good pay good work environment

Cons

Too much work to handle sometimes

Pros

I've met many women who have worked for Principal for 20 - 30 years throughout all different life stages while thriving vocationally. Flexible work based on delivering high-value outcomes not "busy work" or activities. OUTSTANDING BENEFITS compared to competitors (pension fully vested after 3 years, 401k match starting day 1, unlimited-ish paid time off, free financial services for employees, healthcare, etc.). I also work fully remote and still have found ways to successfully network and be "seen" and known beyond my small department. Long-term career opportunities here.

Cons

Large company. Sometimes change is slow but they are making progress. Home office is located in Des Moines and initially, the talent reflected the demographics of that area but the company is successfully working on diversity and inclusion, especially with a more global talent pool. Would like to see this continue to be prioritized in a major way the same way Principal has made this such a great place for women to work and thrive.

Pros

Great people, culture, pay, and flexibility. I have had a stellar work experience and highly recommend Principal.

Cons

No specific cons to report.

Pros

A great place to work, learn, and make connections, especially for recent grads.

Cons

Not many cons to mention - pay is generally competitive.