Vanguard reviews

The middle management is unethical and incompetent. They don't protect confidentiality at all. Vanguard isn't a place for hardworkers, it's more a place for people who want to be a clone and yes man. The pay isn't that great and there is little work life balance. They expect you to give up a lot of your free time to work overtime for them. Middle management is absolutely unethical. They keep nothing confidential and don't welcome feedback at all.

Career advancement can be painfully slow and a very political process. Cash compensation is fair at best. There are low expectations for most positions and after a few years, this will suck the drive and ambition from many employees whose talent could be put to better use. While advanced education is encouraged, Vanguard will give its employees very little incentive to stick around once they have completed their MBA, CFP, CFA etc. They seem happy to allow their investment to migrate to competitors. I have never been in an organizations whose employees were so genuinely afraid of HR. Employees will rarely, if ever, be laid off or fired for incompetence. "Innapropriate" email or web usage, however, will have you escorted to the door in no time. "Innapropriate" is very vaguely defined. The organization as a whole is very bureaucratic and management doesn't seem to trust in the abilities of it crew. "Face time" is important even if it involves sitting around and reading the newspaper for a few hours if you have nothing else to do.