Citi reviews

Almost Everything Else. This place has one of the most toxic corporate cultures I've ever seen with around 80-90% of employees dissatisfied with their jobs. -Incompetent Senior Management; Senior management plays an annual game of musical chairs where they reshuffle/eliminate huge parts of the company instead of actually dealing with the real problems (kind of like demoing a building constantly instead of actually going in and making the necessary repairs) and in the process cause major disruptions to the functions of the company with any regard on how it actually impacts the operations of the company or the people employed. In many cases, they will come in with an exact opposite philosophy to that of their predecessor instead of establishing any sort of continuity. Not one project I've seen in my 10 years here has been driven to completion due to this constant half assing by Senior Management. This is not to mention that many of them happen to also be severe alcoholics that get wasted every day after work. Just visit one of the bars around Tribeca and you'll see them in droves downing cocktails and shots (while sloppily trying to hit on their female coworkers). The company is also highly bureaucratic with many layers of redundant management; what some of them do is an absolute mystery. -Sociopathic/Selfish Managers: I've only ever had one good manager in my time here that actually continued to drive my learning progress and allowed me to learn more than my actual function required. The majority of managers behave like pimps and are very controlling and territorial and will attempt to limit your growth as much as possible so that you don't become a potential threat to them or eventually leave them. They will also use you to benefit themselves and screw you over when they don't need you. Performance Reviews are based on how much you get along with them and how much you are will to play along with their selfishly motivated agendas. Teams/Divisions operate more like rival street gangs/fiefdoms that constantly compete with each other and will do what benefits them first and foremost before putting the company's interest first. It's no wonder the company needed a bailout and failed 2 stress tests. -Internal Mobility: This is pretty much an absolute joke. 99.9 %of internal positions are filled way before the job requisition hits the site. The hiring managers usually know who they want (based on politics & favoritism) and post the position up as a formality. HR is pretty much a useless and powerless function here that spews a bunch of politically correct jargon to make it appear like everything is fine and dandy. -Promotion based on Meritocracy: Another major sham. Any attempt at even defending this is an absolute insult to the many hard working individuals that get screwed over year after year on promotions. The company has a created a culture where it's become almost mandatory for you to leave for another company every 3-4 years in order to get a decent raise. If you do end up getting lucky with an internal move, your move is deemed "lateral" usually and you won't get any raise in pay or title. There is also a HUGE pay/compensation gap between Front Office and Back Office employees with Back Office getting screwed most of the time. The only REAL way to get promoted is if you come from a well off family that brings business to the company (like JP Morgan's Sons & Daughter's program) , have a father/uncle/boyfriend that works for a strong division and has a lot of pull with the hiring manager, or if you are a good looking girl that's willing to play eye candy (and possibly more) to fat middle aged sexually frustrated executives twice to three times your age. The latter is by far the quickest way to get promoted here. As a matter of fact, the higher up you go floor-wise at 388, the better looking the girls get (senior executives sit on the higher floors). I know a good looking girl that went from Analyst to VP in just one year and another that got hired as a VP with nothing but a degree in poetry and 0 experience in the financial industry.