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Project Management Institute

Engaged employer

High turnover rate due to high stress culture and work environment - Marketing Communications Specialist Project Management Institute Employee Review

3.0
Oct 6, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

If you have the opportunity to work with the volunteer leadership of the organization, it is an absolute pleasure. Some positions have many opportunities to travel internationally and/or domestically, which was an amazing experience. The organization's HR department is good and very personable. The vast majority of my fellow employees were professional, team oriented and competent in performing their jobs. PMI offers excellent benefits and compensation.

Cons

PMI does not provide much training and there can be a huge learning curve as far as developing an understanding of both the project management profession and of how the organization does things. There are formalized processes for EVERYTHING, which would be fine, but they were constantly changing, which made for a high-stress environment. The organization professes that they encourage work-life balance, but I did not see many employees with a good work-life balance. Most were always "plugged in" on their laptops and/or phones after work, with several employees regularly expected to work late hours to meet deadlines. Executive management is competent but often absent or unapproachable. The CEO is rarely in the office, and there is no COO, so operations at the corporate office are left to be attended by the VPs. This creates silos that make working cross departmentally (essential in this organization) very difficult. Most employees were burnt out and/or unsatisfied, but were staying due to the excellent benefits and compensation. Middle management was hit or miss, depending on the department - some being highly competent, capable and supportive of their direct reports; others being on a power trip, managing their employees through fear, being incompetent/incapable, having attitudes and/or not communicating their needs well. In my tenure there, there was much turnover - with people quitting, leaving the organization for other jobs due to the high-stress environment or employees being fired. I have never worked for an organization that fired so many people. It was always a concern for most of the staff.

Explore other reviews about Project Management Institute

5.0
May 14, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great company, great leadership, very clear strategy and a very passionate community.

Cons

Not many cons, maybe disorganized sometimes. Too many internal meetings.

1
1.0
May 6, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Remote work, but that is really it.

Cons

Compensation used to be competitive, but workload, expectations and initiatives have increased, Everyone is being asked to do more, and work harder with the same resources with no consideration for fair pay. Senior leaders are well aware of how they are perceived, but choose to do nothing, or simply say they are working on fixing things, with no tangible efforts seen. Our CEO is running the reputation, culture, and company into the ground for the sake of revenue. Him and his executive team are known bullies, and even though this has been complained about by so many of us, even to HR, nothing is ever done about it. We NEED board intervention. Just take a look at PMI's ratings. Even with the reviews obviously crafted and directed by internal leaders to try and suppress negative reviews. I will also add that career growth is non-existent, and the determined best fix for these concerns was training telling employees its their problem to figure out. Really makes us feel valued.

12
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