Does Danish Refugee Council pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Danish Refugee Council employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.5 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Danish Refugee Council. This rating has decreased by 7% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Danish Refugee Council?

82% of Danish Refugee Council employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Danish Refugee Council 3.7 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.8 for culture and values and 3.5 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Danish Refugee Council?

Protection Officer (25) , Project Manager (14) , Officer (13) , Protection Assistant (13) , Administrative Assistant (12) , Area Manager (11) , MEAL Officer (11) , Manager (11) , Finance Assistant (8) , Head of Programmes (7) , Information Management Officer (7) , Livelihoods Officer (7) , Project Officer (7) , Team Leader (7) , Economic Recovery Assistant (6)

What are the pros of working at Danish Refugee Council according to real employee reviews?

"Good salary and exposure to the refugee crisis in Greece" ((in 31 reviews)); "great colleagues and purpose of the organisation" ((in 31 reviews)); "good work environment like working here" ((in 21 reviews)); "Office staff are friendly and frequently eat/do sports together." ((in 14 reviews)); "great environment for work so far" ((in 13 reviews))

What are the cons of working at Danish Refugee Council according to real employee reviews?

"(it allows for weak & bad management to thrive especially at grassroots & area" ((in 18 reviews)); "Senior management has become very corporate with few with experience in the humanitarian sector." ((in 10 reviews)); "2. High workload and less administration." ((in 8 reviews)); "Lack of vision and leadership." ((in 5 reviews)); "extended working hours without extra pay" ((in 5 reviews))

Danish Refugee Council reviews

3.7

82% would recommend to a friend

(548 total reviews)

Charlotte Slente

76% approve of CEO

57% positive business outlook

Company ratings over time

Ratings trend for the last 6 months (548 reviews)

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Danish Refugee Council has an employee rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars, based on 548 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Danish Refugee Council employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the ONG y Organizaciones sin fines de lucro industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

548 reviews

1.0

Aug 29, 2025

Organization with no future, particularly in the current funding climate

Senior manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

- Org was able to establish itself as a credible refugee actor during the Syria refugee response, but has gone downhill since then. - Tries to adapt by following trends (e.g. localization, regenerative agriculture, displacement modelling, etc) but with limited success as its constantly following trends, no real strength in any field (including protection) - Association with MMC which as real value

Cons

- A job creation scheme for underqualified "humanitarians"... very few people with the intellectual and moral prerequisites for senior management (e.g. Country Directors that are inexperienced women or less than mediocre white men with no qualifications for the job but are Europeans) - extremely poor salary and benefit packages for national staff (e.g. below market pay, continuously offering 4-5 months contracts at a time, in some countries health insurance that doesn't cover critical illnesses like cancer). result is low retention, and low capacity level of national staff. - very inefficient and poor value for money, behind all the talk, little gets to target populations (most goes in salaries and benefits, car rentals, HQ and overhead, etc) - high tolerance for all-around mediocrity, little accountability at all levels, poor, weak leadership from area-level to Copenhagen - a literal revolving door of staff, both national and international - very poor retention - Though it tries to diversity donor sources, practically no flexible/core funding but Danida, which is dwindling - unlikely to survive the current funding climate.

Danish Refugee Council Response

9mo

Thank you for taking the time to share such detailed and honest feedback – even though it’s hard to read, we know it comes from your experience and from caring about DRC. We really appreciate that. You’ve raised important points about leadership, contracts, retention and how we use our resources. These are real challenges for us, especially in the current funding climate. We’re working on them – for example, by trying to improve contract stability, reviewing national staff benefits against benchmarks, investing in leadership development, and doing more to diversify funding. But we also know we’re not where we want to be yet. We take feedback like this seriously, and we really appreciate your comments as honest input is what helps us reflect, make changes and hopefully do better – for colleagues and for the people we serve. If you would like to share additional details or suggestions, we would welcome continuing the conversation directly and confidentially. Please feel free to reach out to our HR team at talent@drc.ngo. Thanks again for speaking up and for the years you’ve given to DRC. /Iosif S. - People and Organization, HQ

3.0

Aug 28, 2025

Excellent teams, management disconnected and punitive

Global advisor

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Fascinating work with very dedicated colleagues at all levels of the organization.

Cons

Senior management has become very corporate with few with experience in the humanitarian sector. Dissent is increasingly becoming silenced, with few opportunities to provide constructive criticism or engage in self-reflection

1.0

Aug 26, 2025

h

Manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Great place to work here.

Cons

Rules are very strict for the role

Danish Refugee Council Response

10mo

Dear colleague, Thank you for your valuable feedback. We hope you have also shared your thoughts through the DRC Voices survey. /Iosif S. - People and Organization, HQ

Viewing 19 - 21 of 548 Reviews