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International Rescue Committee

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Great mission, poor execution - Caseworker International Rescue Committee Employee Review

1.0
10 Jul 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You'll meet a lot of mission-driven like-minded folks. Some of them might even become your friends. Clients are usually humble and look up to you to get help. Most of them are sweet. As many have mentioned, great benefits package. Very easy to get into entry-level jobs

Cons

Poor management. People in managerial positions are promoted based on favoritism or certain agenda/trends rather than skills. As an outcome, you get micro-managers, control freaks, passive-aggressive narcissists, short-tempered morons, and people who simply do not show up to do their job or ever respond to your emails/inquiries yet continue to be praised by senior colleagues at every meeting. And all of these amazing people are supposed to manage "trauma-informed" services and are regularly "trained" on mental health importance, harassment, bullying, corruption prevention, DEI, and other essential skills, that none of them bother to apply in their day-to-day operations. High turnover: direct service staff is always overburdened with work and leave after 1-2 years, some even after a few months. New hires are welcomed with complete chaos and have to learn skills on the go. Some managers hire new staff/interns, and then forget to even show up for their first day at work. Low opportunities to develop your career beyond the field office boundaries. HQ jobs are unreachable or distributed among "friends", and international deployments are probably even worse to compete for. The whole organization had a huge data breach a few months ago, and staff were told to keep it down and never disclose it to anyone outside. The issue took many (!) days to resolve, and no formal email was sent to notify stakeholders, partners, or clients.

Explore other reviews about International Rescue Committee

5.0
24 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Very valuable insights in conducting work. Provides valuable input.

Cons

None that I can think of.

2.0
22 Apr 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You will meet some amazing and passionate people here who are truly there for the mission. Many came to this country as refugees and immigrants themselves and continue to devote their lives to helping others going through similar experiences. If you end up on the right team, it's an extremely rewarding job.

Cons

Unfortunately, the HQ upper management makes it a toxic place to work. VPs regularly undercut each other publicly (including at all-team meetings and gossiping negatively with staff), especially when potential job cuts were on the horizon. C-Suite didn't listen to staff concerns about upper management and didn't investigate major departures by dedicated staff who left due to poor management despite their dedication to the mission. Leaders picked favorites, ignoring work performance (excusing mediocre performance in some, having high standards for others), and preferred yes-men over staff who wanted to think more critically about the work. Projects were pushed too quickly, despite concerns that it could be detrimental to clients. Positions given to unqualified internal staff who wouldn't be interviewed for the role as external candidates. Senior leaders (director and above) are more focused on keeping their jobs than the mission and will use lower staff work for their own career growth/safety. DEI didn't seem to apply for senior leader roles, where there was little, if any, diversity.

4
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