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American Red Cross

Is this your company?

Bad place to work especially if you are NOT manager and above...read on... - Senior Associate American Red Cross Employee Review

1.0
28 Jun 2012
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good PTO benefits. Health insurance coverage and premium is average - not high, not low. Good Location in DC Nice building.

Cons

Every year leadership says "we need to get much better if we don't want more criticism and fines from FDA but we have made a lot of progress, it's amazing" . Every single year - it's the same. While market share has reduced every single year. No respect for the worker-ants. If you are manager and above you will get promotions with the exact same responsibilities and tasks, others will stay in the same spot for ever. The PDP process is a joke. Perfomance does not equal raise. All kinds of illogic is presented to avoid giving raises while some 'favorites' are taken care of consistently. Management very poor - not technologically inclined or smart, egoistic, lazy and can get envious of staff trying to rise. A lot of middle-aged women in all key leadership positions with ego issues. IT is full of people from India which is standard everywhere, not good or bad. Frequent layoffs and they will target people who are close to milestones like 10, 15 yrs or those who have raised valid concerns about the process, waste etc. Frequently change of leadership and frequent re-orgs in the name of streamlining and standardizing - none of it works because the people doing it are below-average. Upper management does not inspire any respect or trust. If you don't 'shake the boat' you can some job stability for a few yrs.

Explore other reviews about American Red Cross

5.0
14 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Friendly people and good work

Cons

No cons for this company

2.0
15 Mar 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.

2
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