Vantaggi
As an employee-owned business, Arup treats staff well and is genuinely in the top flight with regards to quality, investment in innovation, knowledge management, prestige. Many ambitious and highly educated people work at the organisation. A culture of supporting co-workers means you can reach out to virtually anyone in the organisation at any time and it will be their pleasure to provide you with free advice on virtually any topic you can think of. Over time this generates an excellent breadth of experience in the staff. Profits are shaerd between all staff in a predictable non-discretionary bonus scheme. A decent double matched pension scheme. Staff are asked whether they want to work on projects and can genuinely refuse a commission, at junior-intermediate grades anyway.
Svantaggi
Progression can be slow. A couple of successful projects in other organisations may result in advancement, particularly where delivering good commercial outcomes... Arup does not reward these outcomes and progress can seem to be based on cultural fit. Salaries are competitive, but not leading. Overtime is not paid within the PM division as a rule. Work ethic in the company is strong - and whilst this is good, benefit for hard work might not be felt if advancement is not forthcoming.