Pros
The cafeteria serves a nice Thanksgiving lunch.
Cons
Northwestern Mutual has a difficult time attracting and retaining minorities and women at the executive level. Four female executives left in one month, and the executive leadership team is all male and white, excepting one woman of color. Layoffs and reorganization happen annually. In the last year, I have never worked in such a toxic work environment, where demanding, entitled people treat each other without patience and respect. Technology is antiquated and innovation is reactive instead of proactive. Nepotism is so common that the workforce is practically incestuous. Contractors are used on a long-term basis for work that is not temporary, as an alternative to hiring employees, and contractors are treated like second class citizens by employees. Advancement is virtually impossible as the company offers no real career path and virtually all hiring is external. Financial representatives are independent contractors, not Northwestern Mutual employees. If you filter out their reviews by selecting Milwaukee as your location, the metrics fall from 3.8, 66% Recommend, 90% Approve, to 3.4, 46% Recommend, 58% Approve. Only 327 out of 5,722 reviews are from home office employees.