Great company to work for, but very corporate for a design firm - Design Strategist Gensler Employee Review

4.0
1 Dec 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You'll love the people you work with. They are truly experts and dedicated to their craft, but also not too intense with workload compared to other design firms. Good projects & work-life balance.

Cons

Perhaps too much focus on productivity metrics / timesheets. Super cost-conscious to the point it makes staff second guess everything they do that is outside of a billable hour, almost like a law-firm. Then again, perhaps this is why they are more profitable than other design firms.

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Gensler Response
2y
Thanks for providing feedback on your experience at Gensler. We appreciate our alumni and value their perspectives. Specific to your question as to why we don't have dedicated Business Development teams - Everyone at Gensler is a business developer and marketer. Since the firm began, Art Gensler's philosophy has been to empower everyone to win. Quoted from his book, Art's Principles, "If you want to build a business that constantly grows, every person in your firm must be empowered to win business. You are a family and you must take care of each other."

Explore other reviews about Gensler

5.0
20 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good firm to work at

Cons

Nothing bad about the firm

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Gensler Response
1mo
Thanks for providing feedback on your experience at Gensler. We value our interns and love to hear their perspectives. We are thrilled and delighted to see your 5-star rating!
1.0
29 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Nice office, lots of “rah rah Gensler” events with food & booze, some nice people

Cons

Where do I start…..some studios are TOXIC. Favoritism permeates every aspect of working here. It’s nauseating. There is zero loyalty, zero recognition for hard work (yeah you get a bonus but sometimes a kind word is needed). Oh-and never ever express an opinion that may be in opposition to “leadership’s”. Your private life, beliefs, politics and other personal things are fair game for letting you go. I’ve seen it happen-fired because someone expresses in a private conversation that one has ethical concerns regarding projects that are in the office (but in another studio/office) will get you fired. They will make up some bs about “work performance”, yet no conversation ever with anyone about “needing improvement “. Out of left field. Bye bye. Management tells leadership that they’d already “warned” the person-completely untrue. Hear later it was likely due to having concerns about a client/project. Lesson learned-shut up, work 12 hrs a day and be happy with the scraps you’re thrown. Also-egos galore! Unwillingness to take accountability for mistakes.

5
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Gensler Response
2w
Thanks for the feedback. We treat workplace concerns seriously and address them in accordance with our internal policies and procedures. We have multiple channels for reporting issues and we train and encourage our team members to use them. Encouraging everyone to ask questions and provide honest feedback is critical to supporting our culture and our values of integrity, trust and mutual respect. We appreciate your feedback and will share your comments with the firm’s leadership.
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