Depressing and Toxic Workspace Culture - Anonymous employee Ares Management Employee Review

1.0
18 Aug 2021
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Above average compensation. CEO is amazing and well respected within the company. Corporate management and HR have done amazing job with benifits and communication during the pandemic.

Cons

Ares IT is a toxic workplace as several reviews have made clear. IT leaders have no vision and take no accountability for their failures to develop a cohesive team environment and culture. Employees approach leaders with complaints that are laughed off let alone acknowledged. Some managers are promoted not because they are good leaders but because they are specialists. These managers are not ready to lead a team but they are part of the inner circle and not held accountable for their actions that are reprehensible and can lead to psychological damage to employees. Career path and promotion criteria is highly inconsistent. There is broken trust between management and employees. There was a mass exit in IT and another one is on the horizon. Several employees have left recently and more employees will leave this toxic workplace until management reflects internally and decides to make changes at the highest level.

Explore other reviews about Ares Management

5.0
11 May 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Very collaborative culture with a strong connected leadership team; a high-growth organization that provides great opportunities for performing team members - many examples of strong mobility (employees growing through promotion as well as employees moving locations and teams). I have been with the firm for more than 5 years and it has been a completely positive experience - I've grown significantly in responsibility and compensation.

Cons

Nothing that comes to mind.

2.0
8 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Prestige, Good Benefits, snacks in the fridge Some teams are very good. Ideal for someone in their 40s or 50s who is looking for stability.

Cons

All teams are different at a company of this size, but working in the middle office technology team was the worst experience of my career. Day to day work was either completely free of directive or projects would be completely blocked by bureaucracy. When a project I was working on went well, there was no celebration and when it was late or had issues there was no reflection. The culture is going into work to a cubicle to sit in zoom meeting straight from nine to five or eating lunch alone each day in a ghost town office. Other teams will speak poorly of each other and gossip. My boss's boss was a bully and would threaten people constantly. Everyone I worked with was "living the dream", overworked and bored to death but making a ton of money. Every team outing they had in three years was just a golf simulator. It just doesn't have to be like this. We've moved on from this cubicle farm company since the 90s, work should be encouraging and fun. Unless you're looking for stability above all else, you can find a better place to work.

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