Interested applicants beware - Anonymous employee Avascent Employee Review

I have been at Avascent for several years and I admit that I enjoyed the work for a while. At first, the firm was small and convivial and the work was enjoyable. That has all changed over the last few years, and not for the better. When I started, the firm was well under 100 people and has since grown to over 120. There are very, very few people who have stayed through this transition period other than some partners, principals, and a handful of senior staff. Very few people remember what the quality of the work used to be like and that's clearly management's goal. Nobody will complain about the work or quality of life because the vast majority of employees lack the perspective that I have. Avascent is trying to grow from a small firm to a medium-sized firm at the expense of our junior and middle staff. Avascent claims not to be a "two and out" company like McKinsey (which is an absurd comparison anyway) but that's not entirely true. Every year we bring in 15 or so analysts and don't expect a high retention. It isn't a sustainable model. For example, in a recent one-year period, I saw 25-30% of my colleagues leave or "transition out" (consultant speak for being let go). Not a single person that has departed has said "I wish I had stayed." One of the biggest problems with the firm is that senior leadership do not have MBA's like you'd find at other management consultancies. They just fell into defense work at DFI, Avascent's predecessor, and have stayed on. We have an uninspiring set of core leadership that does not know how to run the firm or plan for the future. For instance, attrition increased at an alarming rate recently and many junior staff sent out feelers to other jobs or to grad school. Leadership panicked and bought everyone iPads instead of enacting meaning reform. Another major issue I have encountered at Avascent is the utter lack of female leadership, which, as a woman, is very disconcerting. This issue certainly isn't unique to Avascent, but it is exacerbated by the lack of imagination at the top. Sure, we try to onboard a 50-50 split of men and women every year, but the vast majority of women do not last. I am sad to say that this place is no longer the firm I once enjoyed and I cannot recommend this place to anyone.