Senior management prides themselves with candor and leadership but middle management is insecure and silo'ed. - Anonymous employee Northern Trust Employee Review

3.0
Apr 23, 2011
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great place for work-life balance seekers where mediocrity is valued. Senior management is full of leaders. If you care about ethics and integrity look nowhere else, it's truly a place where clients are at the center of everything. It's a great global organization with mid-west roots.

Cons

Mediocrity is valued and over achievers are viewed negatively especially viewed as a threat by senior employees. Senior managers try hard to break the silos but middle management breeds politics and can't break silos. Discretionary bonus system throughout the company breeds more politics and less meritocracy and less incentive to drive real results.

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5.0
Jul 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
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Pros

Great benefits and work environment

Cons

Nothing that’s too much of a con

2.0
Apr 21, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Nice people and a good environment. Benefits are good and the work is interesting. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate NT as a 7. But, it’s typical big corporate crap that hands out 2% raises and minimum bonuses during a good year yet spends $360 million this past quarter buying their stock back.

Cons

Constant reminders to do more with less and cut costs and belt tightening while the execs line their pockets and you maybe get a 2% raise. I could see such actions if the firm was doing bad financially, but they aren’t. Record this and record that for many quarters now. And they walk around patting each other on the back like they all did such a great job when in reality, the markets are up so the value of the assets we manage are up. I’m wondering what sort of actions will happen when the market goes south for several quarters. Oh. And the constant state of surveillance here is BS. Tracking to make sure you are here 3 days a week. Keyboard / mouse / PC tracking systems receding your activity. It’s like a 21st century high tech sweatshop in some ways.

2
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