Once One the Best Places to Work in America- Now Avoid at All Cost - Anonymous employee Discover Employee Review

1.0
20 Jan 2022
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

For years it was known that Discover was one of the top employers in Chicago. Turnover was non existent and it was common for employees with 20 years of tenure. Discover grew earnings 10x since spinning off from Morgan Stanley. Promotions were merit based and if you contributed results you were rewarded financially and provided with advancement.

Cons

Where do we start. In recent years since Nelms left, the leadership team has implemented the great purge of any employee over a certain age level or with tenure. Diversity does not apply across the board if you fell into this demographic. This created a toxic culture where everyone is worried more about protecting their job vs delivering results. I was lucky to land a Senior Leadership position prior to the purge. Unfortunately I’m contacted almost weekly from former employees were were some of the most dynamic people I have worked with who were impacted by this change.

Explore other reviews about Discover

5.0
12 May 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Discover was an amazing company

Cons

Post merger, it’s not the same vibe. Most of us are miserable.

5.0
28 Mar 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

One of the most significant advantages of interning at Discover is the opportunity to work with massive, high-stakes financial datasets within a highly collaborative and mentorship-driven culture. Because the company manages millions of consumer accounts, you gain direct experience in how data-driven decisions impact risk management, credit modeling, and fraud detection in real time. The environment is known for being supportive of early-career professionals, offering structured learning paths and exposure to modern cloud-native infrastructures like AWS. Furthermore, the company’s strong focus on work-life balance and a clear pipeline for converting interns to full-time roles makes it an excellent "foot in the door" for anyone looking to build a career in fintech.

Cons

On the other hand, the primary drawback often stems from the inherent bureaucracy and heavy regulation of the banking industry, which can lead to slower project lifecycles and "red tape." You may find that a significant portion of your time is spent on repetitive data cleaning and maintaining legacy reporting systems rather than building the cutting-edge predictive models you might expect. Additionally, because Discover is a massive organization, your scope of work can sometimes feel siloed, making it difficult to see the end-to-end impact of your analysis across different departments. Finally, the current landscape of the industry means that internal shifts or large-scale corporate restructuring can occasionally lead to uncertainty regarding team directions or long-term project stability.

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