Stay out of Technology Organization - Going downhill fast - Vice President - Technology Mastercard Employee Review

2.0
Aug 15, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great company with a great business model and a visionary CEO. This company will stay profitable as long as regulations support it and more people continue to use cards. Lots of good acquisitions to strengthen the payments expertise,

Cons

This company is led by very poor Technology Executive leadership. All are after buzzwords with little to negative impact on the organization. Middle management is completely demotivated and will do whatever to please the bosses as against what's right for the Company. Tech organization has never built anything right the first time. Few want to make it Amazon and make employees spend most of their time writing MTR type reports and go on providing free pieces of advice starting how things are done at Amazon. Titles are changed to prove the organization is simplified. Poor architecture of the products except the mainframe system developed long ago and the architecture team does not have any clue on how to help solve problems rather than providing free advice. Most of the EVPs never talk to low-level staff, arrogant, and make decisions with less to no information causing collateral damage. Unfortunately, everyone makes up to President with wrong and filtered headlines and are eager to punish honest hardworking leaders once they see them as threats to their positions or job safety given loaded stock benefits. People are hired from outside at EVP levels just based on resume with no significant execution experience in either technology or empathy-based leadership. Even worst, they all compete with each other to build Silos but do not say that in public. One wonders how O&T has become a place with no empowerment in a company where empowerment and decency are touted as the biggest enablers.

Explore other reviews about Mastercard

5.0
May 24, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great culture. Stable. Analytical and rewarding if you find the right product.

Cons

Slower career growth. Not as influential

4.0
May 27, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Mastercard does a great job fostering an inclusive and supportive environment. There are genuinely good people throughout the organization, and leadership often invests in employee engagement through events, recognition, and culture-building initiatives. I enjoyed many of the relationships I built while working there, and there are teams that truly care about collaboration and supporting one another.

Cons

Compensation at the director level did not feel competitive compared to the level of responsibility expected. Career advancement can also be extremely challenging due to how top-heavy the organization is with senior leadership roles. There are a large number of Senior Vice Presidents, sometimes without clear scope or experience aligned to the title, which creates limited room for high-performing employees to grow. At times, it felt like senior leaders were being hired primarily to manage or communicate with other senior leaders, rather than drive meaningful operational impact. In product and go-to-market roles especially, priorities are often heavily driven by funding decisions. It can be frustrating when projects suddenly shift in importance or remain underfunded for long periods of time while awaiting senior leadership review. This sometimes leaves highly talented employees in limbo, unable to move initiatives forward despite strong momentum or market opportunity. The organization can also be very comfortable with the status quo, which creates a slower pace that many employees seem accustomed to. For people who are highly motivated and eager to drive change, it can feel difficult to navigate the number of roadblocks and layers of approval required to move initiatives forward.

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