Gensler reviews

3.6

66% would recommend to a friend

(2,473 total reviews)
avatar

Elizabeth Brink, Jordan Goldstein, Andy Cohen, and Diane Hoskins

80% approve of CEO

56% positive business outlook

Gensler has an employee rating of 3.6 out of 5 stars, based on 2,473 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Gensler employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Servicios de construcción, reparación y mantenimiento industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

2K reviews
1.0
Feb 26, 2026

Something really odd is going on here.

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Creative work and benefits packages

Cons

Leadership that have no clue what they are doing, performative surveys that lead to no real action, HIGH turn over, in office policy that is the complete opposite of what employees want, mean girl culture, CONFUSING Co-CEO model that is often times more confusing than helpful. I can make a whole list of cons but I want to point to something in particular: there have been tons of lay offs and these layoffs have effected MOSTLY people of color.

avatar
Gensler Response
2mo
We take feedback seriously and are committed to listening and learning. We know that experiences can vary, and we continue to focus on building a respectful, inclusive culture, acting on employee feedback, and making thoughtful decisions that support our people and the long‑term health of the firm. We appreciate those who share their perspectives and we invite you to have a conversation with an HR team member in your region/office. Unfortunately, since you have not identified your office location we are unable to share your post with the appropriate leadership.
2.0
May 16, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Size, you could find friendly and talented colleagues. Good Opportunities. Very generous pay and benefits compared to other firms. Nice People in the beginning. Not very design intensive, if you are mediocre a designer, it could be a great fit. Company social is very nice. Top-down directive leadership.

Cons

It feels very unorganized in the design process. Also, The design has fallen behind the market and it is not competitive with other firm's work in my opinion. The senior leaders say they care about the well-being of their employees, but in a number of situations, I felt unsupported. The company cares about the profit the most and if you are passionate about design should avoid joining Gensler for extra $. But you are welcome to try it. I regret my decision, but I have learned from this experience so that I can share it with anyone who asks. My colleague all said the extra $ was not worth compared to how much work-life balance they had to pay.

1.0
Jan 26, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Resume builder for those who aspire to a future in corporate architecture & design.

Cons

The corporate gaslighting here is off the charts in every way. Ex: COMPENSATION: Bonuses are counted in total compensation (even though that directly contradicts the definition of the word BONUS). Keep in mind that these bonuses are taxed at 40% for employees. Ex: RESEARCH: Senior staff and corporate leadership sponsor "research". The "research" is not actual rigorous research - more like lightweight marketing efforts which junior staff are expected to work on without pay... then published as research. Ex: BILLING: Everyone is slave to their own timesheet. Senior staff will apply pressure to work on their projects and accomplish tasks that are impossible to achieve inside of the allocated range of hours. Junior staff will then be bullied into not billing the hours which they have actually worked to accomplish a task. This is on virtually EVERY project and team. Junior staff fill out their own timesheets, are pressured to complete them before the end of the billing period, then scrutinized for billing honestly. So the pressure it to lie at your own expense (else be perceived as uncooperative, or too expensive to keep around when the layoffs come). Ex: LAYOFFS: They come often and no one is safe. I witnessed a team balloon up to almost 50 employees then reduced to nothing inside of two years. This include long-time employees and recent hires. This was all due to poor management practices on the part of senior management. Ex: INNOVATION: "Innovation" and words like it are thrown around a lot. This usually means that expensive but underkilled employees have a screw- around budget for the front end of a project. They will then demand miracles in short time spans from the actually innovative teams and individuals to compensate for their mismanagement. I am getting tired or writing but could to on about stress, poor treatment, culture, senior staff cheating on their spouses at work parties, politics. The actual work at this place is so easy. It is everything else that makes doing the work absolutely miserable.

avatar
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.
Viewing 100 - 102 of 2,473 Reviews

Glassdoor has 2,837 Gensler reviews submitted anonymously by Gensler employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Gensler is right for you.