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Principal Financial Group

Engaged Employer

Principal Financial Group reviews

3.8

71% would recommend to a friend

(2,584 total reviews)
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Deanna Strable

81% approve of CEO

67% positive business outlook

Principal Financial Group has an employee rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars, based on 2,584 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Principal Financial Group employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Financial Services industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

3K reviews
1.0
Jan 30, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Nice gym Free Parking Downtown campus

Cons

HUGE culture shift started in ~2018. If you worked in defined benefit, you were easily (and quickly) promoted if you met the following criteria: Young, Female, Attractive, and little to no experience in the business or defined benefit. If you met that criteria, the older male managers and male “leaders” loved you. If you were anything else…best of luck to you. HR was a joke, especially if you make a complaint about your leader that you were unfairly being retaliated against. The company and leaders make you believe that there is NO better place to work in Des Moines….however after leaving Principal and working for a company that honestly values me, it’s like I left a cult. This company and leaders will not value you, unless you are part of the cool kids club and meet the criteria noted above.

3.0
May 22, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I love the flexibility that I get to work full-time remote. My team's pretty great. That's really about it.

Cons

Pay is pretty dismal to be honest. I was told that when I was hired my bonus would be 5% of my pay in fact was not. I did not receive a compensation increase due to it being my first year which I think dumb. Especially in this economy where everything is so expensive. I advise this to my manager and their recommendation was that I work more over time. Why would I want to work more overtime when my company that makes billions of dollars a year can just I don't know give me a livable wage. Not getting paid. A livable wage makes me feel extremely undervalued at my job.

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Principal Financial Group Response
1y
Thank you for sharing your perspective. As a leading provider of retirement solutions and employee benefits, we offer our employees a competitive benefits package. One of our guiding principles of our global pay philosophy is to be market driven. This means that total pay is set and administered in alignment with the external labor markets in which we compete for talent. We use third-party market data to help ensure base salary and incentives are appropriately aligned.
1.0
Aug 19, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Because they specialize in benefits, they do have good benefits.

Cons

Way too much bureaucracy and corporate politics. A lot of top leadership is very petty. Personnel decisions based more on who you are friends with than contributions. Lackluster culture.

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Principal Financial Group Response
1y
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. If there is anything else you’d like to share, you can anonymously report through the Ethics Hotline (1-866-858-4433) or the Unethical or Fraudulent Activity Reporting form: https://secure.ethicspoint.com/domain/media/en/gui/54514/index.html.
Viewing 37 - 39 of 2,584 Reviews

Glassdoor has 3,074 Principal Financial Group reviews submitted anonymously by Principal Financial Group employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Principal Financial Group is right for you.