PwC reviews

generally second-class employees that can't make it in private practice

Many of the work PwC chooses to provide is not in the areas of implementation but more of a governance/audit/outside look kind of role. Project Management is the bread and butter of PwC consulting, and these associates fool themselves into thinking that they actually do "work", when in reality they are just creating endless status reports and more busy work for their clients. Also, moving projects is way easier said than done if you work in the federal space. Politics and red tape can get in the way of your career progression. The biggest con (and the reason why so many people leave this company) is the horrible pay progression every year. You are given a rating every performance year on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being the best, 5 the worst), and based on that review you are given anywhere from no raise to up to maybe a 12-15% raise (rare). On average, most people who get 3s get about a 3.5% raise. For all that work they put in, and the super high rates the company charges their clients, the wage disparity between partners to associates is unreal. Partners who come in maybe 3 hours a week to client sites can charge up to $700 per hour. And partners love giving themselves bonuses that are about 80% of my annual salary, while giving us BS excuses for poor raises and bonuses by blaming it on "market conditions". My raise this year added about $90 to each of my paychecks. I just got promoted to Senior Associate and instead of giving us a $10,000 raise (which they totally have the capacity to), they sent us to an experience in California called "Discover" where they had Falconry demonstrations (is exactly what it sounds like, falcon demonstrations), Tai Chi sessions, lavish poolside dinners, all at the super expensive Terranea Resort. The total cost of that trip was well over $10,000 per person. Don't get me wrong, I'll take a free trip to California any time, but in the end I'd rather have the money. I have bills to pay.