Flow Traders Reviews

3.6

57% would recommend to a friend

(200 total reviews)
avatar

Mike Kuehnel

88% approve of CEO

44% positive business outlook

Flow Traders has an employee rating of 3.6 out of 5 stars, based on 200 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Flow Traders employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Finance industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

200 reviews
1.0
20 Apr 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Some nice perks like snacks, breakfast + lunch, stocked bar, annual company trip, and game room. If you're working with under the right lead and have decent co-workers you might make valuable contributions and learn something along the way.

Cons

These shiny perks DO NOT make up for the incredibly toxic culture. There are some MASSIVE ego's running the show. Massive structural changes in the past year including the co-CEO, senior MD, and several senior heads resigning resulted in a power grab for those who remain. Changes were seen across the board in nearly all departments and teams, the company is unrecognizable compared to what it was a few years back. There is little direction, it is an absolute 'everyone for themselves' type of culture. Flow Traders suffered from the worst case of 'start-ups growing pains' I've seen or heard of. On top of this, penny-pinching upper management will rarely give out raises or bonuses regardless of how hard you work and how much you contribute. This appears reinforced with nonsensical and unreasonable workload that do not have obvious benefits for the company on those at the bottom of the chain. Completing a job does NOT mean you are compensated (bonus or otherwise)! At the end, management will claim credit and collect their chunk of the pie at the end of the year. Consider this a warning for all those considering joining the firm, there are plenty of competitors that will give you a fair and honest chance with competitive pay. Don't waste your time here.

2.0
7 Nov 2017

Bad lower management

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Courses and conferences for professional development, free lunch, in-house gym with personal trainers, massage

Cons

There is a friction between development and trading on one side, management on the other. Newly formed lower product management is trying to establish themselves, worried about their own position, not caring about the well being of their team or the product. A lot form, less content. Software engineers are considered an expense, while traders take credit for the profit. Noisy office.

avatar
Flow Traders Response
8y
Thank you for taking the time to share your perspective. Your feedback is important to us. From your review, I see there are opportunities for us to work with our product managers and product owners about our approaches as a Technology department. I appreciate your willingness to be open and I am available to discuss any additional insight you’d like to share to ensure collaboration throughout our organization is productive and effective. I can only encourage people to raise their ideas and/or concerns in time and not only share them here. We are always trying to improve, so any sort of constructive criticism is welcome! Best regards, Thomas, Global Head of Technology
2.0
26 Jul 2021

Frustrating management and culture

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

* pays you very well if you can stomach a multi-year tenure * extravagant company events * free lunch in office * good drinks fridge

Cons

Across the board, management at all levels struggles to understand and alleviate the challenges encountered by the firm. At best, direction from the mid-level and beyond is blithely ignorant and, at worst, somewhat hostile to proper fostering and sharing of tech resources. There is a distinct lack of project management and managers, and with it, a lack of direction. Resources and departments are fragmented, and stymies many projects. While there are certainly efforts to improve, there is entrenched "if it works for now, its works" culture in many aspects. This results in patchwork and stop-gap solutions, processes, and tech firm-wide. I would say many talented employees end up working alone, or close to alone on their projects, without support, and a lot of duplicate work ends up being done. The company struggles to retain talent, and it was disheartening to see talented coworkers often leave. Unnecessary criticism and scrutiny, often stemming from ignorance, was hidden behind a guise of "free speech" and "meritocratic culture", though it often came from places and positions where that sort of speech could not be spoken back. Compensation and culture heavily weights tenure over performance; including considering the context and circumstances performance is achieved. Should tenure be achieved, however, compensation was beyond generous. Finally, when I resigned, my release included the only non-disparagement clause many of my friends and I have ever encountered. I believe this type of clause was not uncommon upon employee exits. While it is certainly not entirely outrageous or unheard of, the firm clearly applies its habit of half-hearted band-aids all the way to the end. I suppose that is the single aspect in which the company shows proper commitment. You can guess whether I accepted such terms. Also diversity at the firm was pretty bad, even for finance.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 200 Reviews

Glassdoor has 248 Flow Traders reviews submitted anonymously by Flow Traders employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Flow Traders is right for you.