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Principal Financial Group

Engaged employer

Girls Club - Analyst Principal Financial Group Employee Review

1.0
19 Mar 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Cliquish - apparently a great place for women in management, to relax. They will ask for your input to feign consensus, then dismiss it out of hand. There is a significant amount of make work, that is, more important than real work. Conference rooms for projects are full of people around the table most have very little reason of being there, then claim they were never told about x.y.z. Female management will mother hen every thing. Agree with the most absurd plan your "leader" presents and you are GOLDEN. Best to just simply play dumb, and simply just not care.

Cons

The favorites are well known, as are the patsy's. If your thoughts are dismissed management will laugh behind your back, then expect to be "counseled". Strike ONE The continual churn of the make work is embarrassing: Project managers insist that the project fits into their personal template method. Project managers insist on using a past projects, that are similar in name only to populate the new project. This leaves no room for something new or different. All tasks must be accounted for. Most tasks are left N/A. Then the project team goes through each task to scrutinize each task, followed by mass confusion. STRIKE 2 Mother Hen / Queen Bee will scrutinize every word you write, every word you say. They will guide you to go left when straight is the correct course, the project team will demand to go right even after advising of the risks. Strike 3 After some further manipulation, it is broadcast that you are not a team player. Management decides to coach you, and now you are officially blackballed. From that point on your management will always go all historical on you. Many are kept around as patsy's. Most simply claim they don't know anything about anything to avoid any and all possible work. Many Many others are just simply bullied, until the preference is to kill yourself. PFG claims to be the most ethical company. Employee class action (settled) showed that the only offered 401K investment vehicles chosen were offered by PFG which carried significantly higher fees than nearly identical index funds. These higher fee funds have now been replaced with a percentage rate management fee, which now suggests PFG will make more money off of employees retirement accounts.

Explore other reviews about Principal Financial Group

5.0
28 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Three years in and still LOVE it. Great leadership. Work-like balance. Principal invests in their employees with training and professional development. It's very telling when literally thousands of employees have been there for 20-25-30+ years.

Cons

First time in a large company. Sometimes it is tricky to find the right internal partner to get the answer you need.

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Principal Financial Group Response
2d
We appreciate your feedback! Hearing that you felt supported reinforces what we're proud of—the strong community we've built together.
2.0
4 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Decent work life balance and benefits. Principal offers a pension which is unheard of in today’s age.

Cons

Pay is below average and Principal does not offer inflation raises. Once you hit the midpoint of your salary, you will get a 0% raise until you’re promoted, which will take multiple years regardless of performance. Performance reviews are vague and often used against employees to avoid promotions. At least in my department, I’ve yet to see any of the remote workers be promoted. This is starting to affect attrition and we’re already starting to see people leaving. It’s well known at this point that the best way to get promoted is to leave Principal and get rehired, which even leadership has stated publicly. This is a huge frustration and blow to morale, as it starts to feel like employees need to compete against their co-workers for raises.

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