TCW Reviews

3.1

40% would recommend to a friend

(125 total reviews)
avatar

Katie Koch

38% approve of CEO

34% positive business outlook

TCW has an employee rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars, based on 125 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The TCW employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Finance industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

125 reviews
2.0
2 Aug 2012

A sinking ship

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The best of TCW - excellent talent, some amazing managers, collegiate environment, the dining room, generous pay, benefits, severance. Well appointed offices and work-life balance for most off the trading desk.

Cons

As MetWest management continues to take over, all that was good about TCW is no longer there. TCW was started by a billionaire, so requests were liberally granted, people were generally happy, and the founder considered the dining room as a place for ideas to flow across groups and people to interact with colleagues they might otherwise communicate with only by email. Was there waste, yes. Was there stinginess, not really. While the dining room isn't indispensable, it was a little perk that differentiated TCW from the pack, and people stayed at TCW for this very reason! MW culture is the opposite. They are the startup that made it through hard work to get to $30B, and sheer luck to get to $120B, but the core group is still just as cheap, except with themselves. What is slowly creeping in is a pseudo-PIMCO culture, where even admins and HR are expected to put in "face-time", and are certainly not compensated for it. There is the perennial carrot stick, yet few ever receive their dues. MW employees are not allowed to eat in the dining room - Lippman has made it totally unacceptable, pitting lower level MW employees against their TCW counterparts. This does not make for friendly integration. One of the worst characteristics of the MW culture is the cult of the trading floor. Support functions, like legal and compliance no less, are harassed and lambasted, and if a lowly IT person dares to call a trader on the floor, they're brought up, paraded around by Lippman for all to see the person who's about to get chewed out, and taken into his office. Lippman has no concept of how to use his authority, and instead chooses to rule through fear. A sign of a poor leader indeed.

1.0
13 Oct 2016

Operations Specialist

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The overpriced breakfast, it is a very good meal however, they vastly under pay the staff making the meals to the point that they cannot support a family. -Paraphrased from a conversation with Carlos.

Cons

Management, management and management. All of the upper management is incapable of making decisions. They "minimize risk" with every decision. There is a hierarchy of terrible managers who they decide to fire off once they make a mistake. Unlawful termination without formal notice, and terrible upper management. Have I mentioned that 50% of the employees are incompetent former State Street Bank employees because all of the intelligent workers left to DoubleLine when UPPER MANAGEMENT SOLD THE COMPANY.

3.0
23 Sept 2017

Fairly decent entry-level job

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Working at TCW was neither good or bad. > TCW has the typical benefits at a reasonable price: health, life, dental, etc. > Location in DTLA is close enough to walk to the Metro stations, restaurants, etc. > Values education, offers tuition/education assistance. Also has TCW University where you can take courses taught by higher management or the trade desk. > Provides shuttle service to and from Union Station in the AM & PM, as well as other destinations within a certain radius during lunch hours. > Dining program but at a cost, don't expect gourmet food for either plan. > Monthly birthday celebrations, free dessert is provided every month to all employees. > A few free company events: company Christmas party, Beach bash at Santa Monica, In-In-Out Truck, Christmas breakfast > Opportunity to network with other departments. > Occasional happy hours depending if you're invited or not.

Cons

Like anywhere you work, the team you work with can make or break your experience. One thing to note is entry-level pay here is not as competitive as other companies and there is very little room to grow. In the first few months I struggled to connect with my team, I know I wasn’t the best employee, but I continued to work hard and make things work. I admit I made a ton of mistakes, who doesn't? However, depending on the severity of the mistake it would be made known to the whole group in ways that was ridiculing and embarrassing. I felt that those who were part of management didn't really own up to their title. As part of management you shouldn't belittle and single out one employee to the point of contempt and disrespect. This did not just happen to me but to someone else at the same level as me within my team. What happened to professionalism? Everyone is guilty of surfing the net and being on their phone, but don’t point fingers when you do exactly the same thing. There were many times my supervisor would play loud music during work hours, act like he was still in college and talk to everyone like they were roommates. I understand you're trying to make things more exciting at work but you can't treat everyone like they're your best friend. Too many times have I seen within my group and other groups where people are taken advantage of or get to slide by things depending on how "friendly" they are with all of management. I felt that every idea I’d pitch would get shot down compared to someone else within the group. What happened to fairness and a little risk of trying something new from someone else for a change? On a daily basis, my one co-worker and I did 75% of everything while my supervisor and team lead sat back. I never asked or took a 1-2 week vacation the 2 years I worked there, compared to everyone else in my group. I unfortunately had to use a lot of PTO due to personal illness and family illness. I am grateful for my group taking over my duties during those times, though I felt some thought I was lying about the days I took off. It was a serious struggle to take just 1 day off for an actual vacation. It felt like being punished for being sick a lot which is completely unfair. When my health really took a toll HR got involved. The way they handled my health/illness was incredibly unprofessional. I found out everyone on my team knew what was going on as well as some people on the rest of the floor. Excuse me, there is something called employee confidentiality! The only people who should really be involved are HR, myself, and higher management I speak with. I spoke very little to one of my SVPs about my health, no one else within my group or the floor. The fact that confidential information spread amongst other employees was ridiculous. When I complained to HR, they said it’s already out in the open and there’s nothing they can do about it, such a lack of investigation and duty on their part. In essence, the company is spelled out "Trust Company of the West," make sure there is actual trust within each department and employee. Everyone should have integrity and own up to their mistakes and responsibilities.

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Glassdoor has 153 TCW reviews submitted anonymously by TCW employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if TCW is right for you.