Pros
Capgemini was a learning experience for me. I was attracted to the glamour of the global brand and the promise of career advancement opportunity. I learned what I could and moved on to a company that was a much better cultural fit for me personally.
Cons
Politics: It's all about who you know and what you can do for them. Heads down delivery associates will be pressured to perform against aggressive timelines and when projects conclude, they are discarded. Layoffs are a regular occurrence (literally monthly) as demand fluctuates significantly. This constant churn of consultants does create opportunity for those who are aggressive self-promoters (and a bit lucky to be staffed in the right place at the right time). I found it odd that Cap is sort of honest about this up front, proudly attempting to brand this phenomenon as a "strong networking culture," when what it truly does is reward backstabbing, competition and clever manipulation of your peers. A lovely testing ground to bring forward those whose ambitions outweigh their morals. Shady Employment Practices: During my time at Cap I was pressured to perform several actions which were bordering on discriminatory, and witnessed decision making that consistently favored male employees (surprisingly I did not witness a large amount of racial discrimination, or perhaps not surprising given the global reach of Capgemini). A particular example comes to mind where a male employee was accused by multiple female employees of sexual harassment, and not only was this claim ignored, but the male employee was promoted into a position where he had full on authority to negatively influence those females' careers (which he did, until the women quit). When leadership was questioned regarding this decision, the excuse provided was that the male employee's strong relationship with a lucrative client was worth more to the company than the risk of a potential discrimination lawsuit. While financially logical (I suppose) the cultural implications of this decision never sat well with me. Unrealistic Pressures: There are some strong leaders at Cap, who were either groomed from within (yes, there are some great growth opportunities if you can cozy up to the right people to be nominated for them) or externally recruited. However, there is a standing joke about the Capgemini Divorce Club, since it is a given that (especially as a female in a leadership role) there is absolutely no possibility of maintaining a healthy work/life balance. The managerial structure has hundreds of people rolling up to individual leaders, with significant pressure on those few leaders. Ratios of headcount to operational support functions are also insanely high. This leads to burn out and individuals becoming "lost" within the organization when they are provided with little to no support. Funny story, there is so little oversight of individuals that people can continue to be paid for months on end without ever showing up to work. Overall, this company was not a fit for me and was sadly a very negative experience. I do not feel good about the work I did here, and I would not recommend anyone I know to work for this company. I would also caution anyone who does not thrive in a stressful, competitive, sink-or-swim environment to continue their search.
