Kind of a shame - Anonymous employee BlackRock Employee Review

3.0
Sep 17, 2014
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

So many great things about this company, and I think that it will do well, despite some significant drawbacks. Good products and great depth, great ideas and smart people. Lots of progressive thought about products and organization (just not as good about truly living those great organizational ideas in practice). Has a lot to offer from a career perspective, particularly for more junior people looking for experience and the ability to move around and learn new things (although beware...there's a lot of talk about internal mobility, which is admirable, but also some senior people who will write-off someone looking to move to another role).

Cons

There are some serious cultural issues which I think are quite a shame for such an otherwise promising and fantastic company. Unfortunately, the seemingly blind application of the functionally aligned model has created an environment where ownership and accountability suffers and where finger pointing flourishes. There's also a culture of "bullying" within senior management in particular, which is demotivating and can paralyze people with fear and stunt innovative thinking. And finally, the continual push to "do more with less" has taken a damaging toll on people and created a good deal of accumulated technical and operational backlog. Many valuable people are burning out and leaving, which can exacerbate the problem.

Explore other reviews about BlackRock

5.0
Jul 4, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

very diverse and encourage learning and lateral move

Cons

start frequent layoffs after pandemic.

2.0
Jul 2, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Branding branding branding!!! an incredible brand, and having it on your resume opens some doors but not all.

Cons

The Preqin acquisition never really found its identity after becoming part of BlackRock. It felt like the focus shifted from listening to clients to fitting Preqin into a broader BlackRock strategy. As AI changes how firms access and analyze private market data, simply being a data provider isn’t enough anymore. My impression was that Preqin’s long-term value is likely to come from being integrated into the broader Aladdin ecosystem and APIs, rather than remaining a standalone platform. Leadership would benefit from spending more time listening to customers and the teams on the front lines instead of assuming they already know what the market wants.

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All