Stifling hierarchical system that rewards loyalty and not performance - Anonymous employee BNY Employee Review

3.0
Apr 29, 2015
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Depends on your manager and department, but some departments have great flexibility. Also the benefits are pretty good, although health care benefits are declining. Plus as one long-time employee who does very little work told me "this place is great because you can hide".

Cons

The old fashion bureaucratic system of having 8 to 14 levels of managers above the people actually doing the work, means that there are layers and layers of folks just getting paid to tell the next level above them, what the folks below them are doing. Plus none of these managers has the guts to make the slackers actually work, since they themselves want to be slackers. There are tons of people taking 2-hours lunches, talking on their phones, playing on the internet, coming in late, leaving early, pretending to be sick, but nothing is ever done about it.

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5.0
Jun 23, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Really technology driven and laid back first

Cons

Low salary for new associates.

4.0
Jul 5, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There is real opportunity for career and skill growth. The company runs short on head count, so people willing to take on more responsibilities have avenues to progress. However, you will need to force the issue for promotions & large salary increases after you prove your capabilities. Realistically it'll take an external counteroffer to move the needle.

Cons

It's a large bank and you're a number in the system. If your NPV is positive you'll stay, else you'll be laid off. This includes both scenarios you control and those you don't. Ex. You control your performance, in office time and networking You don't control if your location is a strategic growth site, if a major client goes with a competitor, or if you'd be impacted by a general company-wide layoff plan.

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