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American Red Cross

Is this your company?

It's possibly the worst time in the company's history to seek employment at the American Red Cross (Biomedical). - Employee of ARC Blood Services American Red Cross Employee Review

2.0
12 Mar 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Many positions are set at hourly wages: you are paid for your overtime. You are providing a valuable service to humanity. Co-workers and supervisors are generally amiable and helpful individuals. Employer matches 401K contributions up to 4% with an additional annual contribution.

Cons

The organization has been plagued by years of ongoing layoffs and cost-saving re-engineering programs. The (once generous) benefits are consistently being rolled back and/or discontinued: the pension was discontinued; health insurance costs nearly doubled in the last year and management is clearly attempting to steer employees into high-deductible, high-coinsurance, high out-of pocket plans; through a conveniently labeled "standardization" of national PTO policy, most employees recently lost 3, 6 or more days of PTO per year. It is increasingly difficult to advance in a company that is either laying employees off or discontinuing positions through attrition. Resolving pay-related discrepancies is notoriously difficult due to unresponsive HR, Payroll and ADP (third party contractor) staff.

Explore other reviews about American Red Cross

5.0
16 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

My experience working with the Red Cross has been great. The work is fulfilling and the people are passionate. Benefits are good - Kaiser is $6 a month!

Cons

There is work life balance, but there is an expectation to work nights and weekends.

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.

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