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Morgan Stanley

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Morgan Stanley reviews

3.9

76% would recommend to a friend

(19,820 total reviews)
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Ted Pick

80% approve of CEO

73% positive business outlook

Morgan Stanley has an employee rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars, based on 19,820 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Morgan Stanley employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Finanzas industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

20K reviews
4.0
Jun 10, 2012
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

From the moment you start working at Morgan Stanley you will be impressed by the number of top talent they have at the firm. For a large multinational bank, their technical systems are impressively agile and up-to-date. The employees clearly like working there and hardly suffer from a stagnation in skill-building. I was constantly challenged to push myself harder every day. So unless you're a cruiser, you might want to seriously consider Morgan Stanley Montreal as a very viable tech shop to work in.

Cons

Since the Montreal office is purely a tech shop, you will be separated from the business units. If you're looking to work closer with the business you will find it an uphill battle here, but not impossible. You'll probably still be on the phone with them (often way longer than you'd ever want to), and eventually if you build a strong enough case for it, you may be sent to business offices around the world (perhaps even relocated permanently), but it can take a while for any of this to materialize. MS has become noticeably stingy since the financial meltdown (even compared to much smaller firms), so expect some budgetary politics to play in, including, infamously, the painfully noticeable drop in annual compensation. If you're a pure techie, you may also find yourself doing so many things that are not part of your core interest, e.g. filling in lengthy documentation meant to gain senior mgr approval on any changes. Sometimes you may be wearing far too many hats, as well.

4.0
Apr 7, 2012
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The graduate program is an excellent experience. Many grads join because of the grad program. Fairly good compensation for a grad in the beginning. High prestige, looks good on your CV and on Facebook. Excellent work-life balance.* Innovation is encouraged and managers listen to employees.* Range and quality of work to be done varies between good and excellent.* Good performance is recognized (but not necessarily compensated).* You can learn a lot about the business as a developer. You'll be able to hold job interviews after two years, even interviewing candidates more senior than yourself. * Points marked with an asterisk vary greatly across teams and reflect my experience only.

Cons

If you join as a grad, your compensation will lose its competitive nature within two years. Salary increases don't appropriately reflect your increase in experience while at the firm. Grads are treated as juniors indefinitely. If you aim to earn a lot, look for another company even as a grad. Bonuses are unpredictable. The kind of work you'll get is excellent for your professional growth while still a junior. Senior employees will find the work dull and not challenging enough. Overall, salaries are just mediocre. Since it's a bank, the cult of management and business is very strong. Engineers are treated well but as second class citizens. You'll have to work with some incompetent people who will turn a good project that would otherwise be a joy to work on into a hell of bug fixing.

Viewing 115 - 117 of 19,820 Reviews

Glassdoor has 24,398 Morgan Stanley reviews submitted anonymously by Morgan Stanley employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Morgan Stanley is right for you.