American Express reviews

4.1

81% would recommend to a friend

(18,587 total reviews)
avatar

Stephen J Squeri

89% approve of CEO

79% positive business outlook

American Express has an employee rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars, based on 18,587 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The American Express employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Finanzwesen industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

19K reviews
2.0
Apr 26, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The only good thing I can say about working here is that I liked my coworkers, the pay was decent, and the food in the cafeteria was very good. THATS IT.

Cons

This is a VERY stressful call center environment. The turn over rate in the customer service department is high for a reason! I had to deal with abuse day in and out from customers who speak to you as if you are a dog. The supervisors you call for "help" are not very helpful at all. In fact, they all hate their job, which makes yours even more difficult. I had to deal with other departments dumping (transferring calls without letting the customer know) calls on me when the customers were upset so that they wouldn't have to get a bad survey. OH and the survey system they have in place is ridiculous and put in place just to avoid paying you a bonus. The bonus structure is very generous, but you will never see an ounce of your money you worked for if you get a bad survey.(bad surveys to amex means a survey that is not EXCELLENT, so even if the customer rated you VERY GOOD, its still bad to them). Bad surveys stay on your report for 30 days and commission is paid once a month so you do the math. The schedule is soooooooo strict. You are not even allowed to use the bathroom whenever you want with out being questioned. You get one 40 mins lunch break and two 10 mins breaks if you work an 8 hour shift. If you don't handle your bathroom duties during that time, you can expect to have a meeting with your team leader about you not adhering to your schedule. The PTO structure is also generous (23 days per year) BUT, if you work in customer service and you want a federal holiday off you will have to use your PTO days. But you can even forget about having any holidays off your first year working there. Time off requests are based off seniority and availability. Once everything is taken, then too bad for you, you just lose your days. The sick time was accrued at a rate of 4 hours per month and you can roll over sick days.

1.0
May 19, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Some of the nicest people in the world to work with; employees care about doing a good job and work hard

Cons

They have laid off (fired) thousands of people, especially in the IT department - these are Americans with families to support - only to give their jobs to Indian immigrants who are here on work visas and are paid only half what the employees they fired were making. These people live 20 to a condo, sleep on floors, and will do anything to make money to send back home - it's not their fault that they want a better life. But a company that fires thousands of people at one time (therefore making it impossible for them all to find new jobs) just to make more money so the top people can make millions more each year is horrible. Myself and others took more than one year to find new jobs - and then its contract work with no benefits -- after years of being loyal workers . They should be ashamed.

1.0
Jun 27, 2016

Mass layoffs, offshoring of US positions, toxic work environment

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

From everything I have heard from the veterans of the organization, it used to be an AMAZING place to work. With the right leaders, you can have a good experience if you're OK with constant layoffs, downsizing, force ranking and attitudes this toxic environment creates.

Cons

With the loss of CostCo and the organization's failure to attract new clientele, American Express is going to what it knows best. Layoffs. You'd be absolutely amazed by the number of people this place has let go over the past 10 years. The pace has picked up considerably as of late with the announcement of a billion dollars in reductions. Every meeting we are reminded of the layoffs that will be taking place well into 2017. Thousands and thousands of employees will be out of work. Additionally, the organization is a HUGE believer in moving formerly American based positions to India. While our Indian counterparts are smart, it's difficult to understand them and the hours are almost completely opposite. So if you have a question or need something, it takes a full 24 hours to get a response slowing the process and adding unnecessary frustration. From what I have seen, the organization focuses on laying off their most tenured (expensive) employees, but what I don't understand is what message does that send your current up-and-comers? That you work hard for 10-15-20 years and you'll be replaced by the cheaper alternative? The organization also force ranks its employees meaning someone has to be the bottom. So if you have a team of 10 AMAZING employees, the organization still forces the managers into ranking someone at the bottom. The purpose of this is an ever-ready list of people to layoff at a moments notice. The result these company practices is nothing short of a toxic workplace. The high performers seem to be leaving in droves. The employees who don't know if they're being laid off are upset, anxious and apathetic. I always hear the phrase "honestly I don't care" when trying to get work done. The executives are just absolutely clueless on how to lead people. In a townhall recently someone asked "are you worried about great people leaving?" The exec's response was "well those aren't the type of people I'd want here anyway." So let me get this straight......you want people to be loyal to your organization, but your organization shows absolutely zero loyalty in return? Please..... I began looking for work as soon as they announced the layoffs as no one (especially me) wants an uncertain future where any month could be the month I can't pay my mortgage. I can happily say that I will be leaving the organization shortly! I cannot wait to quit this company for good.

Viewing 7 - 9 of 18,587 Reviews

Glassdoor has 21,937 American Express reviews submitted anonymously by American Express employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if American Express is right for you.