24/7 Availability Expectation is Disrespectful - AVP-Operations Ares Management Employee Review

3.0
Mar 5, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Pre-covid: provide daily food & beverages, clean safe workspace. Difficult or poisonous personalities are not welcome. Good health benefits. Emphasis on diversity and inclusion programs. Company is aggressive in growing.

Cons

Expected to be available for work and to attend meetings late into evenings, when on vacation, holidays and weekends has gotten worse since Covid. No attempt from top to push back or try to manage expectations or hours. Everything is a fire that needs immediate attention. Annual pay raise at mid-lower levels are not reflective of expectations or the 'phenomenal' success of the firm in recent years. Lack of transparency with regard to review process, compensation and bonus. Managers do not go to bat for all employees given the amount of work and time on the clock expectation, unless you are favorite. Aggressive firm growth means more work and resources haven't kept pace. No consideration for firmwide or cross platform coordination or enhancement evident. Little room for promotion in some departments.

Explore other reviews about Ares Management

5.0
May 11, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Very collaborative culture with a strong connected leadership team; a high-growth organization that provides great opportunities for performing team members - many examples of strong mobility (employees growing through promotion as well as employees moving locations and teams). I have been with the firm for more than 5 years and it has been a completely positive experience - I've grown significantly in responsibility and compensation.

Cons

Nothing that comes to mind.

2.0
Jun 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Prestige, Good Benefits, snacks in the fridge Some teams are very good. Ideal for someone in their 40s or 50s who is looking for stability.

Cons

All teams are different at a company of this size, but working in the middle office technology team was the worst experience of my career. Day to day work was either completely free of directive or projects would be completely blocked by bureaucracy. When a project I was working on went well, there was no celebration and when it was late or had issues there was no reflection. The culture is going into work to a cubicle to sit in zoom meeting straight from nine to five or eating lunch alone each day in a ghost town office. Other teams will speak poorly of each other and gossip. My boss's boss was a bully and would threaten people constantly. Everyone I worked with was "living the dream", overworked and bored to death but making a ton of money. Every team outing they had in three years was just a golf simulator. It just doesn't have to be like this. We've moved on from this cubicle farm company since the 90s, work should be encouraging and fun. Unless you're looking for stability above all else, you can find a better place to work.

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