A Sweat Shop - Financial Software Developer Bloomberg Employee Review

1.0
Sep 22, 2010
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The Location (New York, NY). Free snacks and fruits at the pantry. Perceived brand value in the job market. Networking with other people. The finance courses (most of them taught by Stuart Veale).

Cons

If you are a person who likes to be an independent contributor, technologically focused and be given some free reign on your projects -- actually, I'll go out on a limb to say that if you are a decent programmer, who expects a disciplined approach to programming (most of the code is haphazard and difficult to maintain) -- this company may not be for you. Bloomberg has a lot of ridiculous bottlenecks that would make any sane programmer cry with agony. I'm not understating this, you can get the hints from all the reviews up there before mine (at the same time, I'm surprised at some of the 4 and 5 ratings here!). These bottlenecks/annoyances are not just in your day-to-day development, but while you are in the building too. The badge-in/badge-out, the security making rounds around the office who stop you and sternly ask to wear your badge -- even while you are just going to get a coffee in the damn pantry (I've had to literally go back to my desk to get it), I encourage you to visit the premises talk to existing employees beforehand and get an idea of what you are getting into. No proper cafeteria area to eat your food -- the running joke was that the bigwigs expect you to eat at your desk and thus you will be around your desk to be called upon by your manager/peer during that time. You might end up in teams (from what I've learnt, this is most of them) where there is rampant micromanagement (including hints dropped about you expected to work on weekends/late hours to make an arbitrarily set, extremely tight deadline -- even for internal projects) I believe that the "thought worker" who takes pride in his/her work can't thrive in cultures [sic] like Bloomberg

Explore other reviews about Bloomberg

5.0
Jun 11, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great company, in this role you have the chance to learn about the financial markets, the terminal, and also you get client exposure.

Cons

Not really cons, culture is great.

2.0
May 12, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great Office, Free Snacks and plenty of social events

Cons

Be prepared for a heavily politicised culture — it's pervasive and affects day-to-day working life significantly. The organisation suffers from clear in-group favouritism at the leadership level, where certain groups are visibly preferred for opportunities, recognition, and advancement. This creates an uneven playing field and quietly damages morale for those outside those circles. Leadership collaboration leaves a lot to be desired. In four years, I didn't experience a single structured team-building or bonding initiative — a telling sign of how little investment goes into people and team cohesion. Perhaps most concerning is the approach to compliance. Raising legitimate concerns or challenging existing practices is met with significant resistance from senior stakeholders, rather than genuine engagement. A culture where pushback replaces accountability is one worth approaching with caution.

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