Until recently, I wouldn't have much to say here. Mario Azar was elected as the CEO in 2022, who seems to continually fumble when it comes to employee morale. The entire year has been filled with missteps, but the last straw (and biggest breach of trust) has been the recent return to office work policy. For the last several years, B&V has been operating under various work profiles: virtual (0 days in the office), mobile (0-2 days in the office), flex (2-3 days in the office) and resident (5 days in the office). Recently, senior leadership has decided that all employees will be required to be in the office 3-5 days, with no explanation of how that translates for virtual, mobile and flex employees. The new rule is just everyone comes in regardless of your situation. There is no support for individuals who have eldercare or childcare needs - rather senior leadership continues to say "talk to your office leaders for support". Senior leadership seems to have neglected the fact that thousands of employees have sold their vehicles, moved to locations that are distant from offices, had children, etc. over the last several years and is now asking all employees to just undo any decisions that were made. What's worse is that they are lying about the reasoning behind the return to office - the excuse is that the company's culture is suffering. B&V had record productivity and revenue in 2022, along with having some of the best work-life balances among any of the local engineering firms. However, senior leadership has FOMO and sunk cost bias in mind, so they are bringing back employees to fill office spaces and hoping that having better physical control of employees will yield even greater revenues. It is a real shame. This used to be a company that was trustworthy, supportive and respectful. Now it is a company who will lie to its employees and disregard their concerns. If you want to work for a company that respects its employees, steer clear of Black & Veatch.
