Nielsen reviews

3.0

39% would recommend to a friend

(8,195 total reviews)

David Kenny

42% approve of CEO

32% positive business outlook

Nielsen has an employee rating of 3.0 out of 5 stars, based on 8,195 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The Nielsen employee rating is 22% below average for employers within the Tecnologías de la información industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

8K reviews
1.0
Dec 9, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Nielsen is a great company for someone who has never worked for another professional organization and has no frame of reference for comparison.

Cons

To have been in business for over 90 years, you would think Nielsen would be a lot further along. Their technology is completely archaic (their metering equipment is the size of a VCR!), their systems and processes are over-complicated and cumbersome, making it more difficult to close deals than it needs to be, and their management is arrogant and not open to new ideas (very much the "good ol' boy network). As told to us by our trainer, "There's the right way, the wrong way, and the Nielsen way." The 3-week training program was taught completely out of sequence, you are completely overwhelmed with new systems and information, then, fresh out of training, you are held to the same performance standard as tenured employees. In addition, certain aspects of the role were not fully disclosed during the hiring process making it feel very much like a bait and switch. We were also made to sign disclosures and acceptances to policies without being provided the actual policies. There is nothing irreverent about Nielsen. Don't work there if you have an original thought in your head.

1.0
Apr 9, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Nielsen is a well recognized name and an industry leader. Company car, computer, phone, and fuel card are all great perks. Hands on experience on how TV ratings work.

Cons

There is no such thing as a work-life balance. You are forced to work 7 days a week if you have not hit your numbers. Everyday is considered a production day, which means there is no such thing as a vacation or time off. You are always accountable for your numbers even when you go on vacation. Quotas are not even prorated when you go on vacation or go on sick leave. There are no opportunities for advancement within the company. People are forced out of their jobs by receiving no work, or horrible work that is impossible to resolve. The success of this role depends on your territory and manager. Some of the areas you have to work in are extremely dangerous and will have gangs, bedbugs, shootings, and cops will ask you to leave because its too dangerous. Manger will play favorites and those people will be given better work and will even be given work in others territory. Technology needs a major overhaul. The computer systems you use are ancient and need to be replaced. The questions you ask homes are too long and most homes are upset by the time you leave.

1.0
Oct 21, 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Work life balance (some have it better than others), made lasting work relationships with Account Management and Client Service in the NYC office.

Cons

- Operations focused on the TCS relationship, hiring more people at less value to compensate for unwillingness to hire talent in the US - No talent retention, you have to threaten to leave before they will even consider compensating employees at market rate. - Compensation is far below market rate. Any attempts to prove your worth are met with either false promises that a raise is coming or "there's nothing we can do at this time". Depends on the time of year. Merit increases are less than 1%, for Top Performers. Let me repeat. Less than 1% for Top Performers. - Job security is nonexistent. At any moment, senior management could decide to move everything overseas and you'd be left forced to train your replacements. - The "subtle" attempt to move US based talent to Oldsmar, FL and the closing of offices around the country. - Simple, open and integrated is laughable as values at Nielsen. Simple - senior management throws roadblocks for changes that will actually fix the problem, to focus on one small piece of the pie some other senior manager in another dept complained about. Open - I've never been in a less transparent department. Everything happens behind closed doors and senior operations team members are not brought into provide recommendations. Senior management simply makes the decision and tell the team how it is. Thus alienating an entire team in no time. Integrated - the segregation and blame-game among Operations and Account Management is atrocious. Everyone blames Operations, and the senior management allows or encourages it to happen. - Culture is nonexistent and the attempt to change it is a joke. Taking the team to an off-work "go-carting" event and calling it a culture change is childish and ineffective. Respect and recognize your employees. Compensate properly. Stop making their lives harder by inducing process changes that make no sense and expect them to take on more workload. Especially when you bring in new management that has no concept of what the team does, you have to double your effort. Not sit back and expect the team to dole out unwarrented respect for management. - Inconsistent workload, some team members work 10+ hours per day, and some less than 8. Management does not know how to assess the potential capacity for the team, and overloads the "good" ones while taking away or not new assigning workload to the "junior" members.

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Glassdoor has 10,257 Nielsen reviews submitted anonymously by Nielsen employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Nielsen is right for you.