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AKQA

Acquired by WPP

Is this your company?

Totally inclusive for millenial men! - Account Manager AKQA Employee Review

2.0
Feb 8, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Beers, Mostly Nice People, Great office space

Cons

Sexism, ageism, lookism... they are totally unaware that their culture is so oppressive for women and older people. It doesn't seem to be oppressive for ugly people, because they don't hire any. Bullying is totally ok here, as long as the bully is popular and very good-looking. I had fun there and I liked my co-workers. I thought I was happy: the work was not challenging or creative (for most of us.) and we were just racking up hours to bill the "big" client. Sadly, the more time I spent away from AKQA, the more I realized that it was a horribly humiliating place to work. Men would explain your very own ideas right back to you. Anything new was rarely offered to anyone who wasn't in the boys club. AKQA had a very low-grade understanding of cutting technology and best practices. They thought since they had been doing this-or-that a certain way for so long then that's the way to do it. Best to keep your mouth shut and nod like they are as smart as they think they are.

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AKQA Response
5y
Thanks for taking the time to give us this feedback, and I’m sorry that your experience of working with AKQA Portland was one of an oppressive culture. The Portland studio is undergoing massive changes, and I’m pretty excited for where we are heading. We are leaning into larger diversity initiatives, which have helped us to be more aware of bias, and hold each other accountable to grow in this area. Simply put, we are requiring people to just be better. We’ve also established new cadences of communication studio wide, and with each other to again open up opportunities for all voices to be heard. We are listening, and are taking direct action from feedback provided. With that in mind if you want to find out more, or share more specifics of your experience, get in touch: David Buckley, Managing Director, david.buckley@akqa.com .

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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