Pros
I worked with SOME great, well-intentioned people while I was there. I enjoyed volunteering. The two stars is in solidarity for all the employees who do the work of 8 employees
Cons
1. The diversity initiatives are all for show. Executives will hire diverse candidates and then do absolutely nothing to foster their growth letting them flounder and question their own worth in a supposedly "progressive" environment. Diverse candidates are persistently put at the end of the list for promotions, opportunities for the speed of advancement are nonexistent, and variables used for promotion seem questionable at best. The number of POCs who are senior directors and above is barely in the teens. 2. To piggyback off of that, the promotion process is purposefully opaque in order to delay, discourage, disadvantage, and hold back employees of all stripes. 3. The salary is so low and the year end salary increases are TINY. You're lucky if you get bumped up more than a few grand without a promotion. And even then, a promotion only nets you like a 4% increase in base. That's ridiculous and is so outpaced by inflation that you will actually become poorer working at Ally year over year. 4. The micromanagement is so so so heavy it is unreal. At every layer in the organization you will be micromanaged by the person(s) above you within an inch of your sanity. 5. The return to office policies are crazy and there is a heavy "8-5 you're in your seat" office culture there, especially at ACC. You are constantly being watched. For example, there are 360 degree cameras on every floor above the cubicles that monitor what you do; there is a horrific open floor office plan that gives you no privacy or personal space; badge swipes are monitored with reports sent to executive directors; what TIME you come in and what TIME you leave is monitored (pro tip: watch out for the executive assistants as they are the unofficial hall monitors); your key strokes are monitored (not a shocker); how long your lunch breaks are = monitored; and they force you to put company work apps (and whatever monitoring software secretly accompanies those) on your personal devices. And oh! They will check your credit (soft pulls) throughout your employment to see if you are working more than one job. If you can't trust the employees you hired to do their job without going all Big Brother then that is on you for hiring them. 6. Huge coasting culture. Ally isn't a place to grow - it's a place to coast on a mediocre ship until it inevitably sinks or is acquired or you become one of the people they stealth layoff. Lots of employees who are either old, stubborn, have been in their jobs too long, or are stagnant in life bring those characteristics to the office which leads to a culture of utter mediocrity across the board. It is uninspiring and the malaise is palpable the minute you step into the building. 7. Specifically the culture in the Risk and Compliance departments is horrible. Just horrible. Everyone hates their job but because they've been held back at Ally for so long they don't actually have enough actionable experience to go find a new job. It's a terrible catch-22. 8. The financial health of the company always seemed to be teetering on the edge. So much of Ally's portfolio is hedged in very risky auto loans. All it takes is for another recession, and poof the house falls down. This is why the C-Suite has been so aggressive at trying to diversify the company, but most of these new business lines are struggling in this environment.