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Principal Financial Group

Engaged Employer

Great Place to Work but impacted greatly by the downturn in the economy! - HR Generalist Principal Financial Group Employee Review

4.0
Oct 13, 2009
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Challenging work, yet leadership has a commitment to work life balance. Amazing state of the art facility-- loved the work out rooms. Leadership is committed to communication (sometimes they fall short but try), during the worst market conditions, the CEO sent out all employee messages to everyone know where we stood. While they were positive messages, many of them stated that layoffs where likely. Good emphasis on development.

Cons

There were a lot of employees who had been there forever and hadn't changed. The layoffs of 2008 and 2009 have made for a very stressful work environment. Some leaders has questionable leadership skills.

Explore other reviews about Principal Financial Group

5.0
Jun 24, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

good FTO policy good opportunity for career development flexible work arrangements

Cons

health insurance sucks - United annual reviews- everything's made up and the points don't matter more and more pressure to be in-office despite team members being remote

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Principal Financial Group Response
3d
Thank you for taking the time to provide this feedback. Your input is valuable as we work to improve as an employer.
2.0
Jun 4, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Decent work life balance and benefits. Principal offers a pension which is unheard of in today’s age.

Cons

Pay is below average and Principal does not offer inflation raises. Once you hit the midpoint of your salary, you will get a 0% raise until you’re promoted, which will take multiple years regardless of performance. Performance reviews are vague and often used against employees to avoid promotions. At least in my department, I’ve yet to see any of the remote workers be promoted. This is starting to affect attrition and we’re already starting to see people leaving. It’s well known at this point that the best way to get promoted is to leave Principal and get rehired, which even leadership has stated publicly. This is a huge frustration and blow to morale, as it starts to feel like employees need to compete against their co-workers for raises.

1
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Principal Financial Group Response
2w
We appreciate you sharing your feedback. As a leader in retirement solutions and employee benefits, we strive to provide our employees with a competitive benefits package. Our global pay philosophy is guided by market-driven principles. and we leverage third-party market data to ensure our base salary and incentives remain appropriately competitive.
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