Great pay, work hard minimal play mentality, bureaucracy and internal politics - Anonymous employee Ares Management Employee Review

2.0
Feb 15, 2024
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Ares pays their employees well and offers many growth opportunities internally

Cons

Ares has issues with communication between managers and subordinates. Employees need to "play the game" of internal politics, staying late for the sake of management seeing you in seat, skipping lunch and thinking twice about taking PTO to "prove your dedication". Subordinates are usually left in the dark with no communication from managers/MD's regarding upcoming changes (good or bad) and are encouraged to "keep their head down and work" for the sake of job security. Upper management/MD's are under extreme stress from C-Suite which trickles down to lower managers and is therefore taken out on subordinates. Promotions are not determined solely on skill/ability, but more-so how close you are with upper management/MD's. Word of mouth, hearsay, and "who you know" has more weight than skill or accomplishments. Communication walls between MD's, managers, and subordinates promotes a culture of gossip, politics, and fear of the unknown. Ares has a VERY high turnover.

Explore other reviews about Ares Management

5.0
Jun 16, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Amazing work environment and benefits.

Cons

Expectation to be in office four(4) days

2.0
Jun 8, 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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