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Principal Financial Group

Engaged Employer

Minorities Be Careful - Support Specialist Principal Financial Group Employee Review

3.0
Mar 11, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great company, awesome big company perks, and has a mostly great overall culture. Work schedule is sorta flexible, they don't care if you're late if it is less than 30 minutes you don't even have to call in. You can flex up to hours per week with management approval. Some people can work from home. I have almost never had a problem getting time off. I have met Dan Houston in passing a few times. I shook his hand and saw him at the grocery to once, and he spoke. I have never met any other CEO in a casual setting.

Cons

My direct boss is not a critical thinker. My department requires a college education for even the lowest level entry job but my manager doesn't have one. My boss is a dinosaur that doesn't know how to use our computer tools or interpret new data beyond the obvious. Honestly, the type of general incompetence that my boss displays as a manager is like none other that I have seen. I also I think this person has a bias against black males or perhaps males in general. My boss does not remember names of guys that report to them and usually makes decisions that lean toward women when a disagreement happens even if they are obviously fundamentally wrong when compared to guidelines. There is not a lot of ethnic diversity and not a lot of diverse thinkers. When I was hired I had more work experience than my peers that started at the same time and 4 year college degree. Yet fresh graduates get paid more than I do who started after me. I think that it is possible that some of the resistance that I have felt could be because I am a minority. I am not say that my coworkers are bigots, I am just treated differently. It also doesn't help that my direct manager has been creating a negative narrative. I can't give the culture a high score because I am being mistreated, even though outside of my department has been a completely opposite experience. Benefits are not as good as Wells Fargo. Their might have been a lot of opportunities for me but my manager has made advancement and even transferring impossible. HR is not really responsive. They never followed up with me even via email. I would never recommend my company or department to any black male. Outside of that I might recommend them a non minority if I got a paid referral. 6 month outlook? I am sure they'll be around but sometimes I wonder. My department percentage of the overall revenue stream is probably less than 1% overall.

Explore other reviews about Principal Financial Group

5.0
May 28, 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
3d
We appreciate your feedback! Hearing that you felt supported reinforces what we're proud of—the strong community we've built together.
2.0
Jun 4, 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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