Good people, good mission, but extremely difficult to get things done. - Anonymous employee AARP Employee Review

3.0
1 Nov 2011
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Above-average benefits, good pay, very good location in DC. Many of the employees do care about the mission and are reasonable to work with. And the mission of the organization to serve others, especially those 50 years old and older.

Cons

The only thing keeping this organization afloat is the large membership and the lack of competition. There hasn't been a substantial contribution to society from this organization in decades. They celebrate little accomplishments and minimize the failures. It is incredibly difficult to get projects done or to get anything through Procurement. When they want to get rid of poor performers, they re-org and eliminate positions. It is very top-heavy, with probably a quarter (or more) of the staff either Managers, Directors or VPs. There are a ton of VPs, some having only one or two direct reports - hardly anyone left to actually do the work. Decisions are either done by consensus (please everyone) or by senior management who don't have enough information but think they know everything. Lots of turf-protection and lack of coordination between groups.

Explore other reviews about AARP

5.0
28 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

great benefits even for interns like free lunch, reimbursed parking, hybrid work. good opportunities to network, hone your skills, and potentially get a permanent role within the organization.

Cons

long onboarding. lots of hr training.

2.0
2 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

benefits are strong - pension, vacation, sick, caregiving work life balance is generally good

Cons

AARP suffers from a serious toxic work culture, particularly in the IT and Digital Transformation departments. Leadership is atrocious. People leading the 2 key technology functions for the business are incompetent and ego maniacs. Both departments are extremely toxic with burned out employees and contractors. Money gets wasted in the extreme due to these factors. Constant signal switching on projects and priorities. Everyone you work with is unhappy. Bullying and retaliation are common. Avoid these departments in particular, but the whole organization is top heavy, with terrible leadership all around. Still there are some great and talented people, but it's not the norm, and senior leadership is wrought with incompetence and arrogance. The organization flails around endlessly, and blows money with no discipline or rigor to their work and methods. Think someone is juicing the Glassdoor numbers with people saying the place is great. No opportunity for growth. The organization tries to do good work, and does in many ways, but it's so poorly run that it severely hampers its potential.

4
See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All