Gensler reviews

-Very old-school and rigid approach to flexibility and WFH, etc. -No growth track for Design Managers whatsoever -The Design Manager role is brutal and stressful - it seems like this is the case no matter which geography you work in or what team you are on. (All those I interacted with were overworked and underpaid, and were frequently treated with intense condescension and sometimes even disrespect by senior colleagues. I felt like things were very toxic at times.) -In my experience, there was an asinine approach to project pricing and structuring which left teams feeling chronically stretched thin, and anxious about being unable to bill accurate hours - essentially we would be shamed by leadership for not being 'fully staffed' (even when we were but we just couldn't bill real hours) OR for billing accurate hours and creating 'held time' (hours that can't be billed to the client) -In general, while there is a focus on growth and development, the promotion process (similar to at many architecture firms) felt very subjective and 'icky' -- you are promoted to appointments essentially based on politics: are you well-liked by the right people? do you work after hours? do you 'drink the Kool Aid' and volunteer to take on extra work when you're already living at the office?

Gensler NY literally has a spread sheet of "rising stars" or people they are tracking and grooming for leadership. These people, not necessarily based for talent or work ethic, are given opportunities and experiences that others are not. Many of the design staff will play the game, make friends with those who are favored, and back stab those at similar levels of experience to get a foot forward. It truly is a rat race. After averaging 60+ hour weeks for 2.5 years, I was let go during the pandemic (its estimated they cut about 40-50% firm wide, but for a firm that touts transparency, these lay offs happened essentially in secret), but honestly thankful I was. Having time off on unemployment really put things in perspective for me.