Pacific Life reviews

3.4

61% would recommend to a friend

(684 total reviews)
avatar

Darryl Button

65% approve of CEO

61% positive business outlook

Pacific Life has an employee rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars, based on 684 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Pacific Life employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Insurance industry (3.6 stars).

Reviews by job title

684 reviews
2.0
Aug 16, 2015

terrible IT department

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

a steady and reliable paycheck

Cons

The IT department is treated like an unwanted adjunct of the business. We are isolated down in the basement of the building.

1.0
Nov 7, 2012

Warning - Enter at Your Own Risk!

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Pacific Life has a good benefits package that includes medical, dental, 401(k), pension, and many others. In addition, they provide you "flex dollars" that you can allocate to help pay for the benefits that you wish to elect. Finally, the option to buy additional vacation days is a nice touch for those who enjoy time off. You're going to need the time off - which takes me into the cons.

Cons

I am a current employee at Pacific Life but my days are numbered so the cons really don't impact me much anymore. However, I hope the information below can help save someone else from the agony of working here. The easiest way to sum up all the cons of working at Pacific Life is to say that you will be stripped of every fiber of your being. The company has evolved into a widget producing machine and its "employees" are nothing more than cogs in the machine. Your thoughts, ideas, and opinions mean very little here - you will be treated as nothing more than a robot to do the work. Speaking of work, the volume per employee has gotten so excessive that it's not uncommon for their to be mandatory overtime to try and keep up. That is a direct result of employees being laid off as part of a "cost savings" initiative. In fact, they've brought in a lot of temps and contractors to try and alleviate some of the bleeding that resulted from that slashing of employees. The benefit to the company is that they don't have to pay benefits to any of those temps/contractors who are filling in for full-time employees that were let go. Further proof that you will not be treated as a professional is in how their IT Department functions. Would you like to plug a Flash drive into your USB port? Sorry - can't! Would you like to put a CD in your CD drive? Sorry - can't! Would you like to listen to Pandora or other streaming radio while you work? Sorry - can't! That's right - to do any of these basic things requires special permission at Pacific Life. The final point to drive home the lack of professional treatment is that some departments have management that will insist that you don't communicate with other business areas, even if you need to in order to complete your project. That's right - communication is frowned upon in these areas. There is such disrespect and lack of trust fostered at this company that management tends to blanket employees with that same lack of trust. Apparently communicating with other business areas opens up the potential that you might actually say something that isn't "company approved". This last point tends to be seen and experienced most within the Training and Operations Support (New Business/Customer Service) areas. If, after all this, you decide to give Pacific Life a go, all I can say is good luck. You're going to need it!

3.0
Sep 24, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Most of the workforce was positive, engaging, and an overall pleasure to work with. The company was proud to carve their own path. I witnessed associates change positions several times and stay within the company and grow. Everything here just continually got better for 10 years. I was always excited to go to work, be at work, proud of my work.

Cons

The trend for the last 5 years has been to execute what ever "mid size insurance and fund company playbook" Accenture or who ever they are working with now gives them.

avatar
Pacific Life Response
9mo
Thank you for sharing your experience and reflections. It’s clear you had a meaningful journey at Pacific Life. Though we are deeply proud of our nearly 160-year legacy, we also recognize the importance of adapting to meet the needs of a changing industry, workforce, and customer base. While we focus on our broader strategy to modernize operations, enhance agility, and ensure long-term sustainability, our commitment to employee growth, purpose-driven work, and a positive culture remains unchanged. We continue to encourage internal mobility, invest in our people, and foster an environment where our team feels proud of their contributions.
Viewing 55 - 57 of 684 Reviews

Glassdoor has 784 Pacific Life reviews submitted anonymously by Pacific Life employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Pacific Life is right for you.