AECOM reviews

I worked for URS which was then acquired by AECOM. The strategy of both companies is growth through acquisition. Once they aqcuire a new company they cut off the money and let it slowly die. The Cleveland office (near Public Square) has suffered massive layoffs over the past few years. The office went from roughly 400 people to less than 100. When you walk into the office, notice how old and dirty all of the cubicles and furniture are. The place hasn't been updated since the 1980's. It's also a very "throw your coworker under the bus" type of culture. Also, why were there 3 separate URS offices in the Cleveland area? None of them talked to each other.

1) The company has become more and more bureaucratic with a now-mind boggling level of red-tape. It is ever more difficult to get daily responsibilities done and you often anger clients due to our slowness and complete lack of agility. 2) They pay attention to market salaries so starting pay is competitive but, annual raises are miserly and executive management actively resists increasing the merit budget 3) It can best be summed up by saying that employees are seen by executive management as data points on a spreadsheet. Your value only lies in your utilization. 4) Employee development is mostly non-existent and managers are not given budgets that they can then manage amongst their employees. Trying to develop and train staff has become a frustrating experience as senior management second guesses every decision based solely on immediate ROI. 5) Office management has, for the last 6 years, had their once-overarching decision and management responsibilities reduced to a glorified supervisor with limited influence. The company structure is very command and control oriented with smaller and smaller decisions being forced higher up the food chain. 6) Big company with LOTS of senior and executive management so almost impossible to develop and advance in a management position. No mentoring or serious leadership development through a structured program. There is a class touted (which is good) but, that is not enough to seriously develop mid-level managers and give them a realistic shot at senior positions. You are on your own. 7) They rolled out a new performance management system in 2014 that they tout as being a vast improvement. While the actual rankings are not bad, the system uses a predetermined bell curve (i.e., force ranking) so, there may be 4 all-star employees in your department but, you only get 1 slot, the other 3 get shafted. Given the plethora of evidence on how destructive and ill-conceived this process is, it is mind-boggling how executive management and HR can continue to push it. 8) Attrition is high and will increase, I fear, as the job market improves. We employ smart people that can see that the company is a bottom-line driven organization with no loyalty. If you are highly driven and thrive in a cutthroat environment you can go places. 9) Company is now run by accountants and lawyers versus engineers and scientists who worked and learned their way into executive roles. There is a huge disconnect between daily life and needs and what executive management sees.