ODI Reviews

Some job titles are misleading, particularly for program management roles. These jobs are essentially administrative work, and it kills your career prospectus if you are joining from NGO / UN / philanthropy / consultancy backgrounds. I swiftly left the organization after I noticed the reality. This explains the reasons why salary is very low at ODI, benefits are non existent (no private health insurance, no eye check up, non dental coverage.. nothing!!) and so many inexperienced young people are working in these capacities (but they seem to think they are thematic experts). It's admin, full stop. Another issue is that ODI does not take unconscious bias seriously. I heard unaccceptable remarks from white staff without being aware it is crossing the line, and also experienced micro aggressions (e.g. no "thank you" when door is held; ignore your greetings; no invitation to social if you are not from certain backgrounds). It is a predominantly white organization, so perhaps this does not come as an issue at the moment, but it should.

It’s clear from the few positive reviews written recently that they were done so in direct response to the unfavourable- but true- negative reviews. It’s painfully obvious but you can’t hide from the truth. ODI is a nasty place to work for the vast majority of people who work there- the number of leavers tells you that.