Structural Engineer - London Buildings Group - Structural Engineer Arup Employee Review

2.0
9 Feb 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Probably the best building design engineering consultancy in the business. Depending on which group you are placed in projects are a bit pot luck but chances re you will be exposed to some amazing, once-in-a-lifetime work. You will meet lots of very clever people who are very passionate about what they do and are willing to share their knowledge. Good efforts are being made to acknowledge diversity in gender, culture, ethnicity etc. but this is still not reflected at senior management level (which will probably take time).

Cons

Concern for work-life balance is expressed by management through official communication channels but reality on the ground within project teams is very different . Worryingly large numbers of people are regularly in the office very late/on weekends. The culture generally seems to be that if you do this once or twice "for the team" it tends to become the norm. Overtime pay is only granted on a project-by-project basis but extra hours SHOULD NOT be the norm if you want to retain a healthy, happy workforce. Lack of transparency in promotions process also means people feel the need to push themselves harder (and not necessarily work better) in order to feel they are in with a shot at the next salary review. As has been mentioned by others salaries are generally lower than average, especially for more junior grades. The accepted line is that the quality of experience should compensate for this but rent cannot be paid in quality of experience. In London especially I think we a close to the tipping point where we see a mass exodus of young professionals as the life in the city becomes financially unsustainable.

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5.0
11 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Large company that has a name brand

Cons

Slow process and management can be hard to reach

3.0
19 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

great supervisor, lots of professional development opportunities

Cons

insane workload and expect you to be available for work 24/7. some teams are drowning and others have no resourcing. layoffs happen completely randomly and they lay off people who are 100 percent billable. profit share is bs and you get nothing as a junior member

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