Wonderfully polite culture, good business to be in, unfortunate use of remote personnel - Software Developer III Marsh Employee Review

3.0
10 Jan 2011
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

People treat each other with courtesy. Every conversation is calm and friendly. It would be weird and inappropriate at Mercer, to express anger or put anyone down with harsh language. It's a professional organization: people do their jobs, with relatively little politics. Women do well there, hold many advanced positions. Norwood has a fabulous cafeteria. The bonus amounts to about 8-13% of your salary, depending on how well the company does and how well you do. They paid the full bonus in 2009, a tough year.

Cons

The politeness can get in the way of getting work done. "I need this done TODAY dammit" would never be said and probably would not get the desired result. Career advancement gets "official" attention from HR and you get emails about it, but in practice it's all very vague, and they tend to fill higher positions from outside. They use a management-by-objectives set up for the bonus evaluation, where the corporate goals are spelled out, and we are supposed to identify activities to help meet those goals. It didn't work for me: my work had almost nothing to do with the very-high-level corporate goals (I was far from the top). I got a bad bonus after several years of good bonuses, when I got a new supervisor, who seemed to select me from the outset as the person he would ding that year. Managers have to put someone in the bottom category each year; I was it, that time.

Explore other reviews about Marsh

5.0
23 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Supportive and collaborative marketing leadership team. Leadership welcomed new ideas and outside perspectives. Clear direction from leadership, modern NYC office, and strong investment in marketing operations, technology, and innovation. I had the opportunity to meet with John Doyle several times. He always came across as decisive, approachable, and genuinely passionate about the business and its people. That tone carried through much of the leadership culture. I also enjoyed working for John Jones. He was a strong leader who set clear objectives, communicated priorities well, and created realistic expectations for the team. That clarity helped the organization stay focused while still encouraging innovation and new ideas.

Cons

Like many large enterprise organizations, decision-making could move slowly at times due to the matrixed structure and number of stakeholders involved across business units.

1.0
15 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Flexible hybrid work schedule allowing Mondays and Fridays to be remote

Cons

I would absolutely never recommend anyone to be an employee at Marsh especially in the Austin office. They speak so highly about the way their employees are treated but in the Austin office, they do exactly the opposite. They do not take care of their employees and frequently do many lay offs. Management at the office is horrible and they do not have any regard for their employees. The job work is boring and they do not have enough employees for the work load. The team was behind by 3 years and then in May they just let everyone go with no plan for how they will handle the work. Do not work here if you want any career growth or to relocate. They will trap you in their office which they call “Center of Excellence” and it is far from that. I had multiple colleagues who tried to relocate and possibly go remote or move to another office and then head of the Austin office would not allow it. Compensation is horrible for the amount of work and what you have to put up with in the office.

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