Buro Happold reviews

Top heavy company. Engineers are expected to take on drafting / modelling roles in some instances.. There are no "drafters" which may actually be a pro depending on your outlook for the AEC industry. For example ehanced technology can allow for faster delivery of project documents (which should allow engineers to create their own digital documents with minimal effort), in theory, however this is where the con comes in. The technology services are abysmal. There are IT related issues constantly. The struggle to produce work in a timely fashion is severe with this constant stream of downtime which causes both massive frustration as well as unmotovation. Certain people have outdated computers and upgrading them seems to be a shocking request. In addition to the IT fiasco, the disoganization of this company is profound. Finding certain documents can be like a treasure hunt and knowing where to save documents can be just as ambivalent. Communication is not standardized. There are often times pieces of information that go through the grapevine, even internally, before reaching all applicable parties, even when it's time sensitive information which as you might have guessed leads to disasters. This is a common problem "within the industry" however internal distribution of applicable information, especially when critical, must be a standard protocol. What is apparent is that there have been years of administrative neglect that are all coming to the surface. Between the mismatch in company wide standards, the obscurity of resources for information and the ambiguity among the engineers even internally within a single office, this company needs a major overhaul. The good news is that the foundation is already there. The company seems to be acknowledging it's pitfalls kicking into high gear for a remedy. The bad news is that I've heard all the big speeches many times and haven't seen plans go into action. There's often times company wide meetings which give fair and accurate feedback for the most part and preach about our bright future ahead but it seems to be all talk no walk. This company has been in existence for far too long to be this far back.

Very top-heavy structure with little transparency, obscured communication and staffing practices. Salaries are mediocre at best relative to industry standards. Team leaders and partners keep hiring new graduates, which is a great way to support the young professional’s community. However, the same managers/partners do not allow the younger new hires to be independent with their project work/responsibility and run with it, unless they are lucky enough to work under the right team leaders. Individuals with insufficient experience and no practical management skills/training become team leaders and are too easily promoted to senior levels. Very high turnover rate, especially among the HR staff which raises questions. Horrible work-life balance, compromising employee well-being and significantly impacting productivity. The company does not invest in the education of its staff through conferences, courses, trainings (whether technical or organizational development). The concept of “open office” layout has been taken to its extreme in this office. In the name of “encouraging multidisciplinary collaboration” and “promoting an integrated design approach”, cost savings has become the primary focus of this layout, while ultimately compromising employee productivity through high levels of noise and visual nuisance.