HDR reviews

4.1

79% would recommend to a friend

(1,817 total reviews)
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John W. Henderson

90% approve of CEO

87% positive business outlook

HDR has an employee rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars, based on 1,817 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The HDR employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Construction, Repair & Maintenance Services industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

2K reviews
2.0
Sep 30, 2010
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Good insurance plans (health, dental, vision) - Travel can be good if you like the consulting lifestyle

Cons

Here is how the "Great Recession" has truly affected this company: - No emphasis on a "real career" since you have to take *whatever* project comes your way to stay employed (no joke!!!) - Need a Masters degree and P.E. to even just to get first promotion / or able to bring in $2 million in consulting fees on a regular basis to get a promotion - Kiss V.P. status goodbye if you are not involved in a fast growing sector (management expects 30% increase in section growth every year, which is unreasonable) - Be prepared to travel a lot since engineers have be at a 90% utilization and have to go where the work is, otherwise you will be laid off - "Decorated" people with Masters in Engineering/P.E./Professional Associates have been laid off from the company - Likes to hire Senior level people who can bring in the work - Lots of "little people" (0-5 years after college degree) around to do cheap labor, handful of people in the 5-20 year range, and lots of Sr. Managers around who bring in work - Executive management places more emphasis on acquiring companies for growth vs. natural/stable growth, this also leads to domestic outsourcing (yes, not overseas outsourcing but local outsourcing since the company will acquire offices with technical skills on a national level and lay off people who have established 10-15 careers in their home office...this acquisition process keeps the Sr. V.P.'s and above employed) - Lastly in regards to the high fee structure for HDR's engineering consultants, large profits are made off of their large salary multiplier rate and this profit is fed to the Omaha corporate office to help fuel the company's acquisitions

3.0
Sep 9, 2010

Proceed with caution

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Financially stable - High level off technical competance and expertise - Established reputation on national level - Challenging projects - Diversity of projects - Terrifically talented staff people

Cons

- Management focus on quantity, not quality - Utilization as the only benchmark for assessment, rather than technical performance - "Boys Club" atmosphere - Limited opportunities for advancement

1.0
Jul 8, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Modern office in a convenient central location. Pleasant communal areas and well-equipped kitchen facilities, all areas are air-conditioned. Clean and sterile environment.

Cons

Flexible working and leave procedures are unclear and inconsistently applied, particularly affecting newer employees. If you are a starter then you have less rights and benefits than old staff. During a difficult personal time involving my mother’s cancer treatment, I encountered challenges obtaining formal approval for urgent leave. Verbal permissions were not documented, which led to unfortunate misunderstandings, as people are afraid of HR and denied they gave me permission to work from abroad. Do not count on verbal confirmations from your managers eg. working from abroad when your mother is dying. Lack of empathy, cold environment, unfair treatment, values and democracy are missing. Actions don't match company values, values are just market words on a paper.

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Glassdoor has 2,046 HDR reviews submitted anonymously by HDR employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if HDR is right for you.