American Express reviews

4.1

81% would recommend to a friend

(18,607 total reviews)
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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 18,607 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 Finanzen industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

19K reviews
1.0
Feb 6, 2009
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

American Express offers an above average benefits package, yet over the past few yeas the move to a HSA medical plan ensures that you will pay more in premiums and out of pocket year over year. Offers a flexible work environment at times, just don’t get caught taking advantage of it as it will be held against you in the long run.

Cons

Amex suffers from a lack of innovation, with an attitude of wait and see. Amex is not and will never be a market leader as the are too timid to take a risk, and when presented with a opportunity will turn away if will require any innovation or investment. The company is chock full of 'lifers' with 20 years or more in the same job. They offer no value to the company and are part of the drag on being able to make any significant change to catch up with the previous market changes. There is pervasive fear of it’s customer and merchant base. Nothing can be done, no changes can be made as there is constant fear of the customer. In lieu of an approach of customer satisfaction, there is an effort to keep the status quo, and not make any change for fear that some customer may not like it. Jr. and Sr. management live in fear of the layer above them. The result is that there is zero upwards communication of issues and problems faced at the lower levels. When problems are encountered that require input from the next level to solve them the solution is to push back on the line level to come up with a solution, not draw any attention to the issue as the leader may be made to look bad, and god knows you can not have that!

3.0
Jun 4, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Pays well, Generous benefits. Celebrates employees when possible. Great set of employees.

Cons

Enjoys micro-managing, often knee-jerk reaction to exert control. Lack of empathy. You're just a number here, nothing more.

2.0
May 26, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

It's a nice place to work in general. The New York Office is in a beautiful location. They give $15 credit on their food app each day you go into the office. The $15 has to be used on the day you go in as it expires after that. Trouble is most lunches in their cafeteria cost much more than that.

Cons

They are cutting costs and laying off senior people and replacing them with workers in lower cost of living countries. They are heartless and ruthless. The yearly review process is messed up because their metrics to assess technical people is done by non-technical directors. Seniority is determined by years in the company not by competence leading to this club of cocky but useless leaders. The tech is very slow, you definitely won't be using anything that is cutting edge as they take years to onboard any new tool. RTO policy is pathetic as they require people to be in the office even if there are no desks and the entire team is remote. But then they hire people in India and Mexico because it's totally possible to work with remote colleagues!

Viewing 166 - 168 of 18,607 Reviews

Glassdoor has 21,961 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.