Bureaucratic Hell - Software Test Engineer S&P Global Employee Review

1.0
Jul 22, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Dress code was lax, location is great, some of the teams seemed to have a great sense of community.

Cons

TL;DR- Performance reviews, bonuses, and overall quality of work are blatantly in favor of legacy employees-- regardless of the efforts and the contributions brought on by anyone that is newer to the company. Yikes. Where to begin... I was put on the mapping team that mainly consisted of legacy members. I applied for a "Test Engineer II" position and was offered a position as "Test Engineer I" with an on-boarding plan involving me moving up to the next level in a given timeline, which I reluctantly accepted. After the first few months, I found myself trapped in a stagnant state of under-compelling work that left me feeling anything but motivated. I made several attempts to approach my manager during this time asking if there was anything I could do such as acquiring certifications or external work to ensure I could stay on track with the original plan. This was constantly swept under the rug and ignored. During the first round of performance reviews, I was falsely accused of not performing a full 40 hours of work during certain weeks of the year. The accusations were brought on by another tester on the mapping team that I suspect was threatened by my presence. I had no choice at this point to bring HR into the picture while meeting with my manager to clear my name. After enough long-winded meetings, my manager finally admitted on the record that these allegations had no proof or evidence, and that I was not fudging hours on my timesheet. Shortly after these incidents, I received a poor performance review. When approaching my manager about it, all he claimed was that it was as result of a "Stack Ranking" system which made him feel "forced" into giving me this inaccurate and poor rating. Although I remained miserable for the next few following months, I gave one last attempt to bring up my concerns to my manager. I informed him that I felt more rewarded for silence than with engaging my ideas with my team. I told him how unhappy I was and how unfairly I thought I was being treated. His reaction to this was to tell me that it was probably the "Right approach" to stay quiet and under the radar and perhaps I would eventually feel better after enough time. Needless to say, I started applying for another job immediately following that meeting. To shed some light on my qualifications and work ethic, I'm now employed at a much better place where I feel engaged, challenged, and rewarded for my work. I've gotten a tremendous amount of positive feedback from my team here, and received a raise after my first few months at the company. I'm not just some angry clock watching worker-bee trying to put in a bad rep of S&P Global for the sake of it. I was legitimately miserable, bored, and mistreated my entire time there.

Explore other reviews about S&P Global

5.0
Jun 17, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Excellent benefits and education opportunities.

Cons

Constant reorganizations can deeply frustrate day to day operations.

3.0
Jun 18, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Company went through a significant amount of changes from the corporate side while I was there. It was enjoyable to work there because you got access to a lot of information that you don't normally get to see/hear about.

Cons

If you're not part of the original S&P Global, and came in through acquisition, general employees treat you poorly, like you don't belong. Became a toxic environment to be part of which impacted both professional and personal life. I really wanted to be part of the company, but they made it near impossible to stay. They didn't care if you stay or not, because there are 1000s of others who are willing to take your place.

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