Does Morgan Stanley pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Morgan Stanley employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.6 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Morgan Stanley. This rating has been stable over the past 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Morgan Stanley?

75% of Morgan Stanley employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Morgan Stanley 3.6 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.9 for culture and values and 3.7 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Morgan Stanley?

Associate (1441) , Vice President (1145) , Analyst (1047) , Manager (504) , Intern (472) , Director (465) , Financial Advisor (422) , Executive Director (406) , Senior Manager (404) , Senior Associate (340) , Software Engineer (332) , Operations Analyst (289) , Client Service Associate (271) , Software Developer (249) , Summer Analyst (226)

What are the pros of working at Morgan Stanley according to real employee reviews?

"Good culture and very collegiate" ((in 2174 reviews)); "Morgan Stanley employs some great people that are excellent to have in your personal network." ((in 1933 reviews)); "Work life balance is good but ebbs and flows with the times and profit margins." ((in 1143 reviews)); "Benefits are good and usually very competitive with the market" ((in 1139 reviews)); "Good pay and very flexible with where you work from due to the pandemic" ((in 831 reviews))

What are the cons of working at Morgan Stanley according to real employee reviews?

"Long hours and requires you to be glued to your desk for most of the day" ((in 768 reviews)); "Long and late working hours" ((in 382 reviews)); "Most of the managers don't even know how to work the system to do the job." ((in 296 reviews)); "Low compensation and work can get real boring" ((in 226 reviews)); "Middle management and some senior management out of their depth and often made up of staff promoted beyond their capability." ((in 131 reviews))

What are employees saying about Morgan Stanley layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about Morgan Stanley layoffs and their outlook for job security at Morgan Stanley in 2026.

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Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley reviews

3.9

75% would recommend to a friend

(19,833 total reviews)

Ted Pick

80% approve of CEO

73% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.0

Diversity & inclusion

3.9

Culture & values

3.7

Career opportunities

3.6

Work/Life balance

3.6

Compensation and benefits

3.4

Senior management

Morgan Stanley has an employee rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars, based on 19,833 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).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

20K reviews

2.0

Feb 28, 2013

Dead End

Operations

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

-Great people -Good opportunity to learn/specialize in 1 area. Good for people that are looking to punch in/punch out job -Good vacation/sick day allocation -Open environment, no micromanagement -Flexible schedule -Licensing opportunities for FINRA exams -Good work/life balance

Cons

-Virtually no career path in operations/back office unless you are willing to relocate to NY/NJ. -Full of empty titles/promotions with no monetary benefit. "More work, no pay" is pretty much the theme in my office. Entire divisions of the firm haven't seen meaningful raises or bonuses in years. -Several years with 0 raise and 0 bonus with a consistent 'exceeds' rating. -Local management struggles to keep people motivated. It's tough when you are constantly getting bad/negative news given from division management. -Literally no empowerment given to mid-level management so underperforming employees get away with most anything and rarely are even talked to. On the flip-side, good performing employees receive no/little individual recognition. -Bad/Poor morale-it literally feels like they have no vested interest in retaining employees

1.0

Aug 15, 2012

Very bad job.

Registered client service associate

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

There are a lot of learning opportunities. They pay for you to get series licenses.

Cons

Poor management, poor pay, long hours, not a job I'd recommend. I worked there too long and management kept lying about raises, promotions etc. I found a better company to work for and finally quit my position at Morgan Stanley.

1.0

Jan 4, 2009

Good for the benefits but far too politic inside

Senior vice-president

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Salaries are pretty much at market, the company also offers some reasonable benefits and the work/life balance is well encouraged. It is indeed possible to take time off (in reasonable amounts!) and to work from home if you really have to. Morgan Stanley is a well-known bank and most of the business is done because of the "Morgan Stanley brand". The company shows a very good face to its clients, hiding how hard it actually is internally to properly manage a portfolio, correctly value it or even manage its risk. The company is surviving because of the name, nothing else.

Cons

Morgan Stanley is a company with a few very good people at the very top and the very bottom i.e company management and associate/VP professionals. Between them, you have too many people who are incompetent, spending their day in meeting rooms, playing the politics and getting nothing done. Too many people in this firm are making a full-time job trying to save their own job, finding people to blame for the things they cannot get done. It is not a meritocracy at all, the company survives by its name while, at the same time, it is run on unadequate IT systems, and incompetent managers.

Viewing 157 - 159 of 19,833 Reviews

Jobs at Morgan Stanley

Administrative Assistant

Intern - Bilingual English/Spanish