AARP Reviews

Where do I start: Mismanaged funds, inflated budgets, no investment in competitive talent. Sub par performers who keep their jobs by using consultants. Ethics violations are out in the open, no one says or does anything. Smart people get frustrated and end up leaving. There is room for con-artists to spin wheels and sell bridges to nowhere. Job security!!!!! Poor communication. Leadership talks big, but doesn't listen or care about the employees.

The membership offering has remained virtually unchanged in the past decade with very little innovation, which is why membership growth has effectively stalled out for years and years. It is two separate print publications, a bunch of discounts that are easily found and beat elsewhere, and a bunch of junk mail. There isn't really a compelling reason for people in their 50s and 60s today to pay for and join AARP. Most employees know this so it is like working at a restaurant where everyone knows the food is sub-par but the tips are good. AARP is focused on boiling the ocean, but aside from lobbying (which it is truly good at), most of the offerings/events/programs/content are dated, watered down, easily obtained elsewhere, and subpar in quality of execution. Employees will say they love working for an organization with a mission, but ask them to define what AARP is and why it is relevant in the world, and you'll get dozens of wildly different answers. The org does know its founding and history, but it doesn't truly know what it is today or what it wants to be in the near future. There is an odd culture where nobody ever talks about something not going well. Everything is reported out as being a success and everyone is thanked and praised, regardless of the truth. You could spend $25,000 bringing 1,000 people to a free webinar and it would be considered successful. The org's culture and morale have struggled during the pandemic, with teams walling off into their silos more than in the past and nobody knowing what anyone else is doing. Executive leadership is also sitting on a workforce that even pre-pandemic had extraordinarily long commutes even for the DC area (plenty of people living way out in the far suburbs and exurbs) and after 2 years of working from home the long-commuters are really pushing back on the idea of commuting 4 days a week, though as of this writing the return to office is postponed. This is a decent place to work with many kind people and good pay, and it was good to me while I was there, but all of the strong talent has been leaving lately for a reason.