PwC reviews

Everything else. I mean, EVERYTHING else. Work/Life balance is preached, but I've never seen anything resembling it. An alarming number of my coworkers have been laid off for a company that "isn't laying people off in this economy" Low pay for what we do and the hours we put in Here's an example of how much sense their compensation system makes: When promoted, the rate they charge my clients for my time increased 50%, my pay increased 5%. Everything is contradictory. You are rewarded and punished for working more hours. You are rewarded and punished for being honest (mostly punished). You are rewarded and punished for speaking your mind in "anonymous feedback sessions". You are rewarded and punished for doing good work. You have to work something like 12 hours a day, but can often only charge about 6 or 7 of those, meaning you're underutilized and look like a slacker. You will receive negative performance reviews for this. The "critically-acclaimed" employee performance review is a clever way to cover that the partners end up playing favorites in the end anyway. The partners have no respect for you. The US leadership team uses the company's intranet site to brag about how they like to vacation in exotic places, spend time with their families, and talk about their hobbies. Meanwhile the staff has no time for hobbies as we work far too many hours, we are forced to use our vacation time to pay for the "firm-wide shutdown" at the holidays in order to save the partners admin money, and I've had a coworker who was told that she doesn't belong at PwC because she requested to not travel overseas for a month at a time because she had to take care of her 1.5 year old son. Let's just say, there's a HUGE double standard, and little to no respect for the staff shown from leadership. All the good employees have the good sense to leave, leaving only the people who can't do any better. So that "Pro" I mentioned about good coworkers doesn't last long. For people considering working here, just know this: The people on your campus telling you how great of a place this is to work, don't actually work here. They only do recruiting, meaning, they don't even know what hell it is to actually work here. I could go on much longer, but I have far too much work to do, and I'd like to leave work at 1am instead of 2am...

Did I mention demanding and hard-working? Hours can be off the charts at times. The perpetual challenge has been that Work/Life Balance, while truly regarded as an important initiative, has always only addressed half the equation. You can offer all the time off and schedule flexibility you want, but until you make workloads and expectations more reasonable, you will never be able to achieve the "balance". They have never quite gotten that part. Over several years, I have never been able to take all my vaca time while remaining a top performer - and I am not the workaholic type by nature. It's the way the system is built. Did I mention conservative? Understand this is still an accounting/audit firm at heart, no matter how big Advisory becomes. The hoops one needs to jump through - whether to initiate a project, establish a teaming relationship, handle admin tasks, or address personal financial independence requirements - are off the charts. After a few weeks/months, you will "get it", it will become normal, and you'll stop considering it ridiculously burdensome. Or not, in which case this probably isn't the environment for you. This is a "culture of compliance" taken to new heights. Final thought: If you perform and progress, compensation can be excellent. Real wealth is possible. BUT - you will max out after a handful of years as a director. Consider that the partnership is basically a sign-in-blood-for-life proposition, and political x 1000 (which certainly isn't for everyone), and you may start face a career crossroads.