Pros
I worked at Arup for 7.5 years after joining as a graduate. It was a great place to build a huge network of colleagues and friends, to learn as a graduate with plenty of classroom training modules, working with some “best in their field” experts on impressive large scale projects. Looked great on the CV! A big shiny office with good facilities, great pension scheme, buy/sell holiday and other optional perks. Access to a massive global ecosystem of projects, people, knowledge and resources.
Cons
Unfortunately over time, I felt that the focus on genuine excellent engineering and technical delivery was lost. It seemed that everyone was just trying to clamber over one another to be noticed and to land themself a nice senior middle management role. You were usually working in massive teams, alongside endless other disciplines, but with perhaps 3 or 4 other structural engineers there was a major lack of ownership. You often got stuck working on one part of the same project for years at a time. With some of the old “legends” retiring and with the “new way of working” after Covid, most people only come to the office one or two days a week. The culture definitely changed - I think Arup probably used to be the best structural engineering consultancy in the world. There are still plenty of excellent engineers and brilliant people, but culturally, it felt more like a “consultancy” than a true “engineer” as it used to be. My experience was that leadership did not reward proactive, hard work, and were more focussed on prestige and popularity. A real shame. In the short time since leaving Arup I have worked on so many interesting projects and gained so much knowledge/responsibility. In two years I’ve worked on literally dozens of projects and seen lots of them get built. In two years at Arup I would often have only worked on one part of one massive projects. I always felt held back from progressing, with a lack of variety and opportunity, always stuck working on massive projects. I also felt MASSIVELY underpaid. It was demotivating and frustrating as I felt that my work was really good and I was a very committed hard worker. Sadly, that’s not what gets you brownie points with upper management, who tend to exist in their own realm and barely interact with those doing the actual work on a day-to-day basis. Culturally, I think the company has lost what it once had. (My pay has also increased by over 35% in two years since leaving!)