Highly Political - breadth of opportunities depending on who you know, not what you know - IT Leadership State Farm Employee Review

3.0
13 Nov 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Incredible financial strength allows opportunities to work in any field from grounds keeping to machine learning. Thousands of amazing employees. Regular access to latest information, conferences and continuous education. Excellent pay and benefits; Flexible scheduling (remote working no longer supported). Was at one time very employee focused (this has since changed) Enormous campus; Focused on health and wellness; Many outside activities sponsored by company; Company waterpark (Bloomington, IL only); Many local and national discounts (cars, computers - note no discounts for insurance products from SF); Top P&C Insurance company; Enormous Brand Recognition! Incredible talent; Great mentoring and development opportunities - some of the top talent in the nation.

Cons

Very artificial culture fueled by fear of strong hierarchical structure. Employees fear higher levels and reach biased to avoid conflict. Company is extremely focused on targeted diversity (quota's of diversity in each level), therefore is not truly equal opportunity. Promotions are given on who you know, not what you know. Ideas from top external hires & contractors are more valued than by internal subject matter experts. Very fixated on old business model despite industry shifting away. Remote workers are not supported; Ad-Hoc situations are at discretion of management. Performance feedback process is subjectively assigned. CEO was promoted despite being responsible for a very negative impactful 3 year initiative that destroyed morale. Company performance has declined rapidly since the transition from Ed Rust Jr. - in a public company this would not be acceptable. A very large amount of resources do not possess modern skillsets. Insane numbers of acronyms, there is an Enterprise Glossary where you will see two, maybe three identical acronyms that are all internal proprietary!

Explore other reviews about State Farm

5.0
1 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great leadership, great culture, work-life balance

Cons

Very fast-paced work, pay could be higher

3.0
8 Mar 2018
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

(At the time) Fair pay and predictable bonus structure They were pretty good at covering travel expenses and paying them back quickly Diverse workforce & diversity initiatives Fun and funny coworkers Opportunities for growth Again, this was all four years ago and has likely changed

Cons

(At the time and now, according to other comments) Arrogant to a fault Total lack of innovation & willingness to innovate Odd attachment to the company's past (which prevents progress) High number of veterans (20+ years) who are determined to get that retirement money, and therefore, are resistant to change and technology Heavy reliance on command and control management style Poor decision-making that leads to losses of all kinds

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