Shockingly Toxic - Designer Gensler Employee Review

1.0
Sep 1, 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good pay compared to other firms in the city. Cool projects.

Cons

I will let my former coworkers speak for themselves by sharing how they spoke with me, here are there quotes as I remember them. "It takes at least 6 months to be accepted by people here. This office is a beast. I don't know what it is." "Do you watch the news? So you know the state of the economy? It's the most uncertain it's ever been, even more so than during covid. You know the architecture industry is the first to lay off. I'm not saying this is a threat, but if you aren't in the office, people just forget about you. It's just not their priority to respond to your messages asking for things to do when you aren't in office." -office leader, while I'm home with covid, asking for things to do. "I don't have anything for you to work on, so you should just take some of your paid time off." - coworker (failing) to delegate project tasks "We are a hybrid office" - recruiter as I was getting hired. An email days into starting explained the office would soon go back to full time in office without any days allowed to work from home. New hires are not allowed to work from home. "Put your designer cap on and figure it out"- senior designer, I was asking for guidance on something new to me. "Don't expect to learn software on the job here. X spent his evenings staying late to learn new software" - leadership "You have to be really loud and extroverted to succeed in this office. You can't be quiet or introverted here." - leadership

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Gensler Response
3y
Thanks for the feedback. We treat workplace concerns seriously and address them in accordance with our internal policies and procedures. We have multiple channels for reporting issues and we train and encourage our team members to use them. Encouraging everyone to ask questions and provide honest feedback is critical to supporting our culture and our values of integrity, trust and mutual respect. We appreciate your feedback and will share your comments with the firm’s leadership.

Explore other reviews about Gensler

5.0
Apr 20, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good firm to work at

Cons

Nothing bad about the firm

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Gensler Response
1mo
Thanks for providing feedback on your experience at Gensler. We value our interns and love to hear their perspectives. We are thrilled and delighted to see your 5-star rating!
1.0
May 29, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Nice office, lots of “rah rah Gensler” events with food & booze, some nice people

Cons

Where do I start…..some studios are TOXIC. Favoritism permeates every aspect of working here. It’s nauseating. There is zero loyalty, zero recognition for hard work (yeah you get a bonus but sometimes a kind word is needed). Oh-and never ever express an opinion that may be in opposition to “leadership’s”. Your private life, beliefs, politics and other personal things are fair game for letting you go. I’ve seen it happen-fired because someone expresses in a private conversation that one has ethical concerns regarding projects that are in the office (but in another studio/office) will get you fired. They will make up some bs about “work performance”, yet no conversation ever with anyone about “needing improvement “. Out of left field. Bye bye. Management tells leadership that they’d already “warned” the person-completely untrue. Hear later it was likely due to having concerns about a client/project. Lesson learned-shut up, work 12 hrs a day and be happy with the scraps you’re thrown. Also-egos galore! Unwillingness to take accountability for mistakes.

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