Another day, another carrot. - Systems Development BNP Paribas Employee Review

4.0
7 Dec 2010
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Generally fair environment. There is some talent, but is usually muted by the bureaucracy that strangles any true growth. The company is stable and the 401k is good. Vacation policy is very good. Fantasticplace to have a child. The share value took a hit during the big recession but bounced right back.

Cons

Power is consolidated in the hands of a few. The idea of management is broadly applied to many non-essential layers in order to perpetuate the notion of advancement. In reality this feeds a pyramid structure that adds little or no value and often demotivates the one or two resources at the bottom that are responsible for any of the real work. I have worked in groups where there are literally 4 or 5 'managers' for one resource. Since there is really only one level of management that actually controls your compensation, there is often very little recognition of good work down the management chain, nor is there any true motivation to do more than a perceived benchmark. A bigger focus is put on the process than the product. Hours upon hours of wasted time on internal processes and bookkeeping. If you like to track your time, this is the job for you.

Explore other reviews about BNP Paribas

5.0
28 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

love working here been here 4 years

Cons

return to office policy is tough

1.0
8 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The only good thing about this place were the Nespresso machines.

Cons

I rarely leave reviews, but future job seekers deserve fair warning. From day one, it was clear that micromanagement was a core operating principle here; not a quirk, but a feature. Managers routinely hovered over routine tasks, demanded pointless status updates multiple times a day, constantly changed directives, took credit for my work, and treated experienced professionals like they couldn't be trusted to send an email unsupervised. Any sense of autonomy was purely cosmetic. The culture was equally poisonous. Gossip wasn't background noise; it was practically a department function. Colleagues regularly spoke poorly of one another behind closed doors, cliques formed and hardened fast, and if you weren't part of the right group, you felt it. Unkind doesn't begin to cover it. Basic professionalism and common decency were in short supply. Management set the tone for all of it. Leaders who should have modeled integrity instead participated in the drama, played favorites openly, and addressed conflict with either complete avoidance or outright retaliation. HR was not a resource — it was a shield for bad behavior at the top. I left for my own sanity. The turnover rate here should tell you everything. Life is too short and your career too important to spend either in an environment like this one.

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