I’m going to start with the fact that working at Gensler is prestigious. I tried to keep that in my head while working there. However, there are too many cons. 1. First of all, the workload is hefty. They expect you to work on weekends and after hours. You should do all internal team meetings or administrative meetings in your free time. If you leave your desk at 6 pm, everyone looks at you like you are crazy, and the next day they throw another project under your wing. 2. The work environment is entirely toxic. In my studio, this toxic environment was supported by my studio director. No one is there to help you, even if they say they are. But that’s not because people are bad; that happens because everyone is overworked, and every time you ask a question, you have to face a great deal of attitude. 3. The space looks like a giant call center, not an architectural office. People don’t take their headphones off because meetings are one after another. Some days I couldn’t even go downstairs to grab lunch because every minute of my day was busy with meetings. And then, after 8-12 meetings a day, they expect you to do your work. 4. You don’t have your own desk. Every day you have to open a few apps, one to confirm you are coming to the office, the other one to prove you don’t have Covid symptoms, the third one to book a desk… you won’t believe that, but every day you have to book a new desk and carry your laptop, material samples, headphone set, notes, etc. with you. 5. You have to keep one of their tracking apps open throughout the day, which drains your phone battery. 6. I’m aware that I wasn’t lucky with my team, but any attempts to talk to HR weren’t successful. It’s shocking for me how Gensler employees normalized all these things and go along with them. There is no balance. There is no hope of working at Gensler. There is constant abuse. They will use your talent, energy, youth and throw you out. Don’t expect anything else.
