Avoid IT positions at Northwestern Mutual home office
Pros
Very nice facilities Bonus structure still in place Most areas of the business are still pleasant, rewarding places to work
Cons
Top down command and control management, especially in infrastructure and Operations Very poor outlook for long term employment Promotions and advancement based on nepotism is very common Mixed messages coming from leadership - employees are publicly encouraged to innovate, but in reality, any deviation from leadership's ideas are shot down. Professional/ technical individual contributors and lower management employees are "walking on eggshells" to avoid drawing attention. Threats of termination are common, numerous and followed through on, unless one has a highly placed friend. Work/ life balance gets lip service in some areas, reality is most areas view employees as pawns whose personal time should be spent on company business