Let's get right to it -- Fidelity hasn't yet learned the truth that 1 smart person can perform the work of 3 idiots, while actually managing to create value instead of destroying it. They love people who are completely satisfied being a middle-level contributor or entry-level manager for the rest of their lives, and although they will pay for your graduate degrees, actually going to night school scares the bejesus out of managers and will put you on the fast track to career stagflation -- an interesting paradox where the amount of work given to you rises exponentially and yet your career advancement aspects stagnate.
They will work you to the bone, give you extremely little attention in terms of career guidance and feedback, and will make you feel like you're asking them to donate a kidney whenever you book vacation time or (god forbid) take a sick day. Essentially you are a highly trained, but easily replaceable, workhorse for them that can be put to sleep when they can find someone in another state or country that will take your job for less money, even if they can't produce the same standards of output.
The CFOs -- yes plural, as Fidelity brands everyone who manages 100 people a CFO of this or that department -- developed a breakthrough management realization; if you don't promote people, you don't have compensation expenses increase. Targeted goals this year were <3% compensation increases -- inclusive of salary increases from promotions!
It goes without saying the firm is losing most of its top talent. Unfortunately with salary for individual contributors 40% below market rates to satisfy Fidelity's precondition to feed senior management, top performers get replaced with completely ignorant and unqualified associates when they leave. As an example to this absurdity, 2 top analysts in a group quit when they were asked to take on additional workload after already working 60 hour weeks on average, despite not having received a promotion in 2-3 years from junior analyst to senior analyst. Their combined positions were replaced by a "senior analyst" who was so inept they could not even figure out how to rename computer files or put paper into a printer (I kid you not), and who had never worked in a financial services role before.
In closing, the source of the other reviews on this company pretty much sums it up: management loves it, individual contributors think it’s a joke. Anyone thinking about coming to this company within their first 10 years of career experience should think of one thing and one thing only. "Who am I REALLY going to work for, once I get Fidelity to pay for my FINRA registration?" If you don't have a 1-2 year exit strategy, enjoy becoming one of Fidelity's many 40-50 year old junior/senior associates who will never even make it to middle management.
