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American Red Cross

Is this your company?

You really don't want to work here. - Senior Software Engineer American Red Cross Employee Review

2.0
Jun 12, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

It's an important organization that does valuable work for the community. Pension plan, if you've been here 5 years or more.

Cons

Upper and middle management appears to be incompetent, from my prospective anyway. Recent staff cuts mean everyone's workload has increased. Small annual increase in salary and no bonuses. Little or no company paid training due to lack of money in the budget. Bureaucracy hampers productivity. Technology used to control and monitor employees, rather than enable them to be more productive. Downtown D.C. location means a long commute and costly parking.

Explore other reviews about American Red Cross

5.0
Apr 16, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

My experience working with the Red Cross has been great. The work is fulfilling and the people are passionate. Benefits are good - Kaiser is $6 a month!

Cons

There is work life balance, but there is an expectation to work nights and weekends.

2.0
Mar 15, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You feel connected to a larger mission, and go to bed knowing you did good work. Most of the volunteers are amazing people. The job is a good stepping stone to other disaster management jobs elsewhere. PTO policy is generous and Healthcare is decent.

Cons

You are INCREDIBLY overworked and GROSSLY underpaid. You get zero work-life balance. Even when you're not on call, you'll still get tons of calls from volunteers with questions and concerns. If a volunteer is unavailable to respond to a fire call or tend to any other responsibility day or night, you're on deck. You're salaried, so there's no overtime pay. Your pay barely covers the basic cost of living in today's economy ($40k-$50k). Diversity is bottom heavy, meaning there are lots of employees of color in entry level or lower management roles, but beyond that there's a steep drop off. Most of the volunteers are great, but the Red Cross is so desperate to keep them, that poor behavior and language (racist/sexist/phobic) is not properly disciplined or responded to, if at all. Employee retention is poor, especially in the Disaster Specialist role, because they burn you out so quickly without decent pay.

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