A torture chamber of toxicity - Anonymous employee AARP Employee Review

1.0
Feb 7, 2020
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Decent base compensation Excellent 401k match with immediate vesting Adequate health insurance, but VERY high deductible

Cons

The culture here is toxic and abusive. Welcome to an employer where it's encouraged for people to yell at and insult one another! There are no opportunities for professional development or opportunities for advancement. Mediocrity is rewarded. Hitting goals doesn’t do you any favors. Just find the right person to suck up to and you’ll be fine...until someone overthrows that person. Never worked in a place that was this racist, sexist, ageist and discriminatory. From comments made about African Americans to comments about Catholics to comments about women, the discrimination goes every which way here. There is extreme hatred and resentment for anyone under 45. HR turns a blind eye or worse, they’ll find a way to punish you if you report. They have more money than they know what to do with and yet they STILL take federal funding. At a volunteer event, a senior executive told volunteers to stop working so hard because "we were packing too many meals for seniors in poverty." Shameful.

Explore other reviews about AARP

5.0
May 28, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

great benefits even for interns like free lunch, reimbursed parking, hybrid work. good opportunities to network, hone your skills, and potentially get a permanent role within the organization.

Cons

long onboarding. lots of hr training.

2.0
Apr 2, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

benefits are strong - pension, vacation, sick, caregiving work life balance is generally good

Cons

AARP suffers from a serious toxic work culture, particularly in the IT and Digital Transformation departments. Leadership is atrocious. People leading the 2 key technology functions for the business are incompetent and ego maniacs. Both departments are extremely toxic with burned out employees and contractors. Money gets wasted in the extreme due to these factors. Constant signal switching on projects and priorities. Everyone you work with is unhappy. Bullying and retaliation are common. Avoid these departments in particular, but the whole organization is top heavy, with terrible leadership all around. Still there are some great and talented people, but it's not the norm, and senior leadership is wrought with incompetence and arrogance. The organization flails around endlessly, and blows money with no discipline or rigor to their work and methods. Think someone is juicing the Glassdoor numbers with people saying the place is great. No opportunity for growth. The organization tries to do good work, and does in many ways, but it's so poorly run that it severely hampers its potential.

4
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