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Morgan Stanley

Is this your company?

I enjoy working here but feel powerless on the big issues - Anonymous employee Morgan Stanley Employee Review

3.0
Oct 26, 2019
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Many passionate software devs who really want to make a difference. Good social scene in Calgary with many employee-organized clubs like board game nights, chess club, fantasy hockey, playing soccer in at the park, etc. Free beer on Friday. Calgary office had a great location near Prince's Island Park and Kensington. Is attached to the +15 network for those days with really bad weather. Teams are self-organizing and you can affect a lot of change there.

Cons

Some developers have grown complacent and do not want to improve, making working with them frustrating. Managers are overloaded. Too many meetings and too many reports to effectively manage them all. Some developers have 1-on-1s with their manager much less often than others. Senior to intermediate to junior developer ratio feels skewed. Difficult to find mentorship. Not enough oversight on implementation and code reviews for teams composed of juniors and newer intermediates. Three years of focus on new features coupled with the above have led to insane amounts of tech debt. No communicated plan to pay off this tech debt. Executives do a poor job living the company's espoused values. E.g. despite Transparency being a 'core value' a big change like the QA department being abolished was never communicated beforehand, leading to a great deal of stress and uncertainty and some high-performing QA analysts leaving the company. Being acquired by Morgan Stanley, a company deeply involved in the subprime mortgage crisis, does not feel good. I liked working for a Canadian company and feeling proud of my employer. Vision benefit is getting better in 2020, but paramedical practitioner benefit is becoming much, much worse if you visit two or more types (e.g. massage, physiotherapy) Quality of your experience varies greatly depending on your manager and product owner. Good ones are able to help manage client expectations and your workload, while inexperienced ones lead to you feeling overworked and underwater.

Explore other reviews about Morgan Stanley

5.0
Jun 11, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Culture is great Hours are not bad, rarely work on weekends and track the market open and close Networking opportunities

Cons

Unclear responsibilities Reliant on operations teams

3.0
May 30, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Very good co-workers, Great technology stack. Lot of new technologies and integration with current work.

Cons

They dont even give you a MS cup. They ask you to buy it for 5$. So cheap! Management big on "Giving back", Immediate managers do not like it and are not supportive. Lay off employees twice a year to show profits. Only worried about shareholders and clients. Don't know the criteria for lay-off. So, you are always worried if it is your turn. They boast about mental health and wellness. No good, when they layoff employees like this. HR = Horrible Resources. When you are laid off, they shoo you away as if you are a fly. You feel miserable. They themselves say - "We are better than Facebook or Oracle. We dont fire you at 6 AM over email." Gosh! What a comparison!

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