Mediocre and Bureaucratic - Associate Software Engineer Charles Schwab Employee Review

3.0
Apr 3, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good onboarding program for new college graduates looking to go into IT Good benefits package that includes HSA contributions, Health Insurance, ESPP, one month sabbatical every 5 years (Probably going away with the new idiot they are grooming to be CEO though), etc. Mostly good work-life balance except for madated RTO Helpful team members

Cons

No chance for internal promotions because incompetent executives can't manage interest rate risk Extremely slow and bureaucratic. Hard to do my job due to infrastructure teams and bureaucrats. Company then uses "regulations" as an excuse for using archaic technologies and practices when the regulations don't exist or say something completely different. Company doesn't put any effort into automation, resolving tech debt, and properly practicing agile methodologies. Mandates RTO on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday with no respect for employees. Micromanaging and more concerned with how I do my job instead of what I deliver. Limits your career options since interviewers know how unproductive the company is.

Explore other reviews about Charles Schwab

5.0
Jul 13, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great work life balance, and nice environment

Cons

Sometimes feels like clockwork. Nothing exciting

1.0
Jul 15, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-Paycheck comes on time most weeks -8% 401k match is very competitive

Cons

-Raises our very low. The “exceeding expectations” raise has been around 3% for the last three years, which is under inflation. -AI is used as the primary way of grading performance, however the way that this AI grades is kept secret from us doing the work. You can have great feedback from client but if the AI scores you low, you will be written up/fired. - Client data entry and account operations have been outsourced to low-quality processors India. Every single day you will deal with issues because of how much sloppy work is being done. There is no follow up or problem-solving regarding these errors, they are just a fact of life at Schwab, and you need to double check pretty much everything being done here. -Most members of leadership, when sharing their personal story, will share that Schwab was their second choice. They call someone who has left Schwab and then come back a “schwabarang” and many members of leadership are Schwabarangs. This can easily be felt in the nature and character of the leadership where the focus is on KPI numbers and keeping costs as low as possible over any kind of improvement of operational effectiveness

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