I work in a major insurance company in CA, USA. They pretend to be all about equity and equality, but it's just corporate bs. People here just straight up hire and promote their friends. It's so bad that it's discriminatory.
It's pointless to work there unless you are willing to spend at least half of your time making the right friends and cultivating those relationships, because if you don't, you have zero chance of promotion or moving into a different position you may want.
An executive steps down? Who takes their place? Their close friend. Who gets the positions below that new executive? Their close friends. No one else has a chance.
A group manager has a childhood friend who needs a job? Magically a new management position appears below him and that person is hired off the streets ahead of 50 other people. Doesn't matter that the friend has no relevant skills for the position. They'll learn on the job! Meaning you'll be doing their job! Everyone knows it's gross, including leadership, but they're all totally fine with it.
No one on a specific team is allowed to work from home you say? Well well well, a Manager's childhood friend and report needs to move to another state, and is magically given the sole exception to be allowed to work fully remote…with executive blessing! Excuses are made, but everyone knows it's nepotism, because many others have been denied this entitlement repeatedly.
A new SVP comes to your department from department X, then when new positions open up in department X, magically everyone who is chosen for those positions from a huge pool of internal and external applicants are all old buddies from that SVP's previous department. 100% of them. In a company with something like 60 departments.
It's completely out of control. All of the people who apply for those same jobs are being completely discriminated against and are not getting jobs due to that discrimination. It also kills morale, because most people aren't douchebags who don't mind pretending to be friends in order to advance their career.