GREAT people, but this conservative company lacks creative spirit and innovation - Anonymous employee Kantar Employee Review

3.0
Sep 24, 2008
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The absolute best reason to work at MaPS is the people. I don't know how, but their hiring and recruiting practices seem to attract some fantastic people that I know will be lifelong friends. It's a great first job in that they pay decently, there's lots of other young people, and they are a relatively intelligent, interesting group of people. It's a "real" company and they actually do act professionally, unlike a lot of smaller companies.

Cons

Do not work at this place if you want to be creative. If you're in the lower ranks, you'll spend most of your day doing mind-numbingly tedious tasks like checking numbers and reading outputs of stats files. Fun, right? Only if you are an extremely anal, detail oriented, and quite frankly, boring person. That said, no one at the company really likes doing this type of work, and since most of the people there have degrees from really good colleges and grad schools, it's mostly insulting for everyone to do this type of work. Maybe they should consider hiring temps to do number checking?! Either way, you won't really get to use your brain until you are a project manager/associate or higher. But, by the time you rise to those ranks, you may not want the job anymore. There were a few folks who sneaked up to the top through sheer ability to navigate the politics of a very tightly-knit group of partners, either by marrying their friends or playing lots of golf with them. (The people who moved up, rather than out, were never the really nice folks). Other than that, if you are even remotely an "individual" of any sort, you will stick out here like a sore thumb. Everyone dresses in very conservative Boston attire (not suits, but the same J.Crew outfits), and while everyone is super nice, innovative ideas are NOT welcome here. Most people stay for about 1-2 years and go on to bigger and better things.

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5.0
Jul 7, 2026
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Pros

Nice company to work for

Cons

Pay could be better for this role

2.0
Jul 18, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
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Pros

Kantar has talented employees, well-known clients, and strong research capabilities. I had the opportunity to work with knowledgeable colleagues, contribute to major accounts, support internal initiatives, promote the brand, and share expertise across teams. There are many people inside the company who genuinely care about the work and try to help others succeed.

Cons

My experience was ultimately overshadowed by what appeared to be deep favoritism, inconsistent leadership decisions, and a serious lack of transparency. Employees with decades of experience, strong performance records, valuable client relationships, and critical institutional knowledge were laid off in the name of profitability. At the same time, the company continued hiring new people into the same or very similar positions. This makes the claim of role elimination or cost reduction difficult to take seriously. It was particularly disturbing to see highly experienced employees removed, only for the business to spend money recruiting and training replacements to perform work that clearly still existed. In some cases, former employees or people with close relationships to leaders appeared to be brought back, promoted, or placed into stronger positions. This created a clear impression that personal relationships and internal connections could matter more than performance, loyalty, expertise, or contribution. Strong performers who consistently volunteered for initiatives, promoted Kantar’s brand and tools, shared knowledge, supported important client work, and went beyond their job descriptions were still treated as expendable. Remote employees and people from diverse backgrounds also appeared to be disproportionately affected. The overall message to employees was damaging: performance may not protect you, loyalty may not matter, and institutional knowledge can be discarded while leadership continues hiring elsewhere. This destroys trust, weakens morale, and sends the wrong signal to employees who are still expected to give their best.

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