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Bridgewater Associates

Engaged Employer

Bridgewater Associates reviews

3.7

58% would recommend to a friend

(593 total reviews)
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Nir Bar Dea

66% approve of CEO

50% positive business outlook

Bridgewater Associates has an employee rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars, based on 593 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Bridgewater Associates employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Financial Services industry (3.6 stars).

Reviews by job title

593 reviews
1.0
Dec 3, 2014

Friends don't let friends join Bridgewater

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Company is not about to go out of business, they have so much money that they don't blink when it comes to wasting it on the culture, principles, or technology. - Relaxed environment - Free food (but who cares besides kids out of college?)

Cons

- Lots of talking, not much time left for actually doing things - as political as any other place (despite claims to the contrary) - Say good bye to a future career in finance: they will enforce the non-compete (unless you go work for a lumber company, as they recently suggested), and many firms will not even talk to you because they don't care to deal with this hassle. - Emphasis on exploring failures and weaknesses, creating a very negative environment. Successes are rarely celebrated, and then only briefly. - Chronically unable to hire & retain staff (e.g. always understaffed), loads of consultants passing by - Technology is hopelessly obsolete. No investment in tech for years, but most crucially there is neither vision nor leadership when it comes to tech. - Hours of "culture" training to complete on a weekly basis (can be a Pro if you enjoy watching senior hires cry like babies) - Comp is average (only those being hired from college or out of finance think otherwise) - Offices located in the middle of nowhere - No sick pay (sick? take it out of your vacation days)

1.0
Aug 8, 2014

Glad I Left

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

As the cliche goes, the food is excellent, but that shouldn't be the reason why you want to work there. Salary was okay, but I am getting paid more in New York without the headaches. No one ever gave me a hard time if that counts for anything. They did, however, give my friend a lot of stress.

Cons

Lackadaisical people who are good at faking it will prevail there. Dalio and his ego and his stupid religion is turning his employees into nervous wrecks who should know better. The lack of organization that I witnessed even shocked me. Bridgewater's website is full of glitches and its content is way off. One example: The Culture Videos are old and outdated. I think four of those people who speak fondly about working at Bridgewater haven't worked there for quite a long time. You can figure this out on your own by doing a simple Google search. Oh yeah, working in Westport is almost like living in a prison. You feel like you are working at someone's rich dense Westport estate with lots of trees, which gives everything an unprofessional vibe.

1.0
Mar 22, 2014

Run away as fast as you can.

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Intelligent colleagues, good pay. Beautiful location.

Cons

Strange, self-deluded upper management, and others try to emulate. Narcissism runs rampant, which is counter to what "The Principles" express. Weird meetings where people tell the "truth" about each other. Mostly an opportunity for people to tell you what's wrong with you in an abusive way. It's like group therapy with a very sick therapist in charge. Cameras follow you everywhere, meetings and conversations are recorded. Might as well live in Soviet Russia. Very, very weird place. I'd say close to a cult. This is a place where people come to score a lot of money and then leave as quickly as they can.

Viewing 40 - 42 of 593 Reviews

Glassdoor has 679 Bridgewater Associates reviews submitted anonymously by Bridgewater Associates employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Bridgewater Associates is right for you.