Poorly Managed On All Levels - Anonymous employee CME Group Employee Review

2.0
Nov 9, 2011
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

there has always been a very good work/life balance at this company (known to most as "Dow Jones Indexes"). they also support flexible hours for many teams. benefits are extremely good, even with the reduction or elimination of certain programs in recent years. there is a generally laid back atmosphere, which is nice as well. good place to start off. almost everyone there is nice and easy to get along with in a work environment. the team spirit aspect is definitely very strong in most departments. from my experience, there is no backstabbing or throwing people under buses from almost all employees. overall, a very honest, straightforward group that works well together.

Cons

first and foremost - salary. that has always been the number one reason people have left. but it's not even so much the lower starting salary that upsets people (because remember, they do accept the salary to begin employment there), but rather the fact that NON-MANAGEMENT promotions and raises (other than minimal, across the board cost of living adjustments) are scarce. this single-handedly destroys morale and furthers the already massive rift between management and non-management. people don't expect to be in the same position with more or less the same salary years later after joining the company. but that is exactly what happens to the vast majority of individuals who work there. this is all while middle and upper management seemingly promotes itself in an endless circle, creating new positions at random when needed and having far too many in the same title. they only decide to throw a bone to the people actually doing the work after they have given themselves raises and still have money left. excuses about there not being enough money for promotions is a joke, especially when you hear the CEO tell us how profitable the business is and how great it is doing and we are still hiring new people. communication is absolutely horrendous at all levels, and particularly between management and non-mangement. goals, timelines, etc - many time they are non-existent. most of the time the communication issues stem from people not being able to articulate what it is they really want. and many times that is simply due to them not knowing. employees are given a veil of respect by management, but actions speak louder than words. if you are praised for a great job and have a glowing performance review, why then is there no promotion and/or raise...time and time again. favoritism is rampant and is primarily the sole reason for promotion decisions, rather than actual performance. it is most definitely NOT an environment for generating creative thought. almost all ideas are promptly stifled, whether they have merit or not.

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Pros

good pay, interesting work, good people

Cons

very very little work life balance

3.0
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Pros

Strong engineering culture with exposure to large-scale financial systems, distributed architecture, and production-critical platforms. Good opportunities to learn modern cloud, performance, and reliability engineering.

Cons

Bureaucracy and internal politics can sometimes outweigh technical merit. Employees who take ownership or challenge inefficiencies may face delayed recognition, unclear growth paths, and shifting expectations, leading to frustration and disengagement over time.

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