Good place, good people, messy internal practices - Analyst Urban Science Employee Review

3.0
Apr 26, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Most of the people in my office are absolutely wonderful - they are honest, hardworking, and are good about sharing knowledge. Most people within the company are approachable if you need some help, which is great! Middle management is good about giving positive praise after hard work is done. Hours can be flexible if needed. The company as a whole seems to recognize that the people who work here are human beings and have lives outside of work. Most people, especially the veteran employees, are pretty positive about the company and work they do. The main sources of work are both challenging and interesting, and the clients are pretty easy to work with, though sometimes a bit demanding (not unusual).

Cons

The training department is completely useless - it's pretty much sink or swim here when you first start. About 90% of IT is useless also - they assume (1) as a "user" you are basically an idiot and (2) that you function like a 90 year old on a laptop. Upper management (directors and higher) seems a little out of touch with things like understanding reasonable timelines, ensuring availability of resources for projects with lofty goals, and prioritizing the types of knowledge to share with their teams. Examples: - Holding lengthy meetings explaining office decoration color schemes - Requesting data for meetings at the last minute - Ignoring/enabling lazy employees by offloading work onto others Teams do not seem to have clearly defined roles and responsibilities - there is much finger-pointing that occurs when things don't get done. Raises are not awarded based on merit - it seems that all employees get a set percentage increase assuming they've met what managers deem the "minimum effort". Lazy employees seem to get the same increase as the hardest working employees on a team.

Explore other reviews about Urban Science

5.0
Jun 23, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great Team, Work Life Balance, Interesting work.

Cons

Can feel a bit stagnating

4.0
May 26, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

With the exception of some teams, company culture is great. Opportunity to work on some cool stuff

Cons

Super strict on in office attendance and recently culture has taken a hit because of it. Also compensation and career progression aren’t very good past year 1.

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