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AKQA

Acquired by WPP

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Poor Work/Life Balance, Inexperienced Program Managers, 2 Sets of Layoffs Due to Poor Management - Project Manager AKQA Employee Review

2.0
Jul 30, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-Creative and UX team worked hard to produce quality work and legitimately cared for what they were making

Cons

-There have been 2 rounds of layoffs in the last 4 months alone. About 35 people have lost their jobs due to poor management -Managers often have less experience than the people they're overseeing and lack the skills to actually assist (yelling at people and acting sullen and standoffish isn't a solution) -Little to no Work / Life Balance (Work till 10 or 11 at night in preparation for a weelly client on-site that you have to be at the office for by 7, which you won't get home from until 7 that night) -Cliquey culture

Explore other reviews about AKQA

5.0
Mar 13, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

solid people, remote work, good work

Cons

company is a little lost at the moment. struggling with profitability

3.0
Jul 2, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Design and Strategy teams on the west coast in 2021-2023 incredibly smart and strong in their craft. Overall it is hard not to be impressed with the output and some of what the brand can produce

Cons

NY and DC teams were unpleasant. Competitive fearful vibe compared to other creative and tech industries I have been in. My guess is because everything is based on what accounts and projects they can capture and during this time tech accounts were pulling out of further business as their markets slowed. WPP (the parent company) began lay offs and shuttered whole agencies exasperating this.

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