He was good until the stock tanked, they laid off 10% of the work force and took $3.5B in TARP money. - Marketing Director American Express Employee Review

3.0
Dec 1, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Work/iife balance is really true before the VP level. The company is dominated by women, who are often the lower-earning part of a dual-income family. The time off is ample and employees can't roll over their days, which indicates that senior leadership supports time off. The people and culture are refined, meaning that people treat each other fairly well in meetings and during presentations. Most of the people are very smart, creative more on the beta-side meaning an emphasis on collaboration vs alpha side meaning goal or results oriented. The focus on customers and customer satisfaction is genuine which senior leaders actually reading letters from customers and sending them to to you if it effects your area.

Cons

The matrix-culture waters down a lot of good, original ideas because so many people can shape/influence the outcome. This also means it takes an incredibly long time to make the simplest decision since everyone and their brother needs to hear about it. This means a lot of presentations and follow ups before you can even implement. This also effects promotions and meritocracy, so getting ratings is essentially a popularity contest. If everyone likes you and you've done a decent job, then you'll get a good rating. However, if someone is annoyed they can tank your rating through the annual alignment process. Plus the technology group is terrible on the interactive side. What else explains a 4 second load time on the home page and below-market recurring billing???

Explore other reviews about American Express

5.0
Jun 9, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Free lunch in the cafe. Everyone’s nice.

Cons

Audit is just such a boring job. Lot of change going on right now

3.0
Jun 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Complimentary lunch and starbucks everyday - On-site clinic for basic check ups - Hybrid

Cons

you will be taking phone calls every minute of the day. There will come a time where you feel like at the bottom of the world. You will ask yourself "is my role in life to help people reset their password online and assist them in logging in?" You cannot use the bathroom whenever you want, they have time coding that if you "abuse" them you will be flagged and subject to discipline. You have to give world class service but at the same time rush them off the phone or else you are not getting paid a good bonus. You will quickly find yourself gasping for air and time to relax when you take 50+ calls a day , you will feel drained. When is finally time to move up there is a high chance you will be paid less than you're current role as there are no bonuses in higher roles.

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