Pros
Enormous design and collaboration resources, many talented people, respect in industry, looks good on resume
Cons
Over 2 decades in the profession I’ve worked for fair share of small and big companies but this one is by far the biggest disappointment. It is a toxic agglomeration of egocentrics and due to their size and leverage in the industry they are doing irreparable damage to the profession. It starts with the leadership selling you the story that it is an employee owned company, that they have flat structure and that you can grow. They sell you the “culture”, pour over you company parties, retreats (money that could have been saved for economic downturn to avoid or reduce heartless layoffs) and a PR infused belief that you made it to the mothership. They tell you they are people first firm and that you should jump through hoops to get to your career goals. The reality is that there is an inside and an outside circle of people within the firm with zero transparency. You will be pigeon-holed into a narrow path to success that has a long waiting line. You will not get to where you are going unless you are a buddy with right people and part of the inside circle which can help you skip the line. Politics and favoritism are rampant in the company, your hard work does not matter and if you don’t know how to play politics you will be left behind. If you talk back and challenge the system you will be on the list for termination. The firm can sugar coat this with boiler plate phrases but this firm will burn you like a candle and discard you. Pay is average or below average. If you happen to land a good starting pay don’t expect increases even after years of service. In fact you could expect to be on the termination list due to higher billable hour rate. You are easily replaced by an army of recent graduates willing to drink the cool aid, who will work for peanuts but usually can’t cut the mustard. Turnover is high. Firm talks like a big corporation but acts like a small studio and leaves each studio to survive on their own. During COVID crisis leadership didn’t blink once to consider redistribution of work across the vast company’s resources to maintain workflow and retain workforce. They rather fired hundreds of employees especially in regions hardest hit by the COVID. They took the opportunity to “clean house” and saturate the job market with out-of-work desperate architects. That will in turn diminish everyones compensation leverage for foreseeable future even after the crisis passes.
