I worked at Slalom’s Hartford office, and my experience was the exact opposite of what their “fiercely human” branding suggests. On paper, they talk a lot about caring for people. In practice, I was pushed to stay on a client that was clearly damaging my mental health, despite repeatedly raising how bad it had become. The stress and frustration got so severe that I started literally screaming in my sleep.
Instead of listening and taking my wellbeing seriously, leadership’s priority was keeping the client happy and keeping the revenue flowing. The message was clear: you are expendable, the billable hours are not.
The way they handle the “bench” is equally deceptive. It’s sold during recruiting as a chance to rest, skill up, and thoughtfully find your next project. In reality, it turned into a constant stream of demeaning, low-value tasks designed to make sure you never have a single moment to actually recharge between engagements. There was no psychological safety in saying you needed a break; the expectation was that you stay “on” no matter what toll your last project took.
From what I saw, the business model feels increasingly desperate. They struggle to sell sustainable, meaningful work and compensate by squeezing employees as hard as possible to stay afloat. The warmth and humanity they talk about externally simply did not show up when it mattered most internally.
If you care about your mental health and want a place that truly lives its people-first values, think very carefully before joining this office.
