I can only give an honest and constructive feedback for my time at Ankura, for my team, and for my location/office - which was in Washington, D.C. However, it seems like the toxic culture is actually prevalent across all locations.
Ankura had put a big physical and emotional toll on me looking back. Now that I've long moved past Ankura, there is a drastic change in my overall job growth, professional development, emotional well-being, etc. Ankura is an extreme WIP that quite frankly is a sinking ship. As others have mentioned countless times, there are 2 big themes of this firm that need to be highlighted and/or addressed...though I can name 10+ if I had the time:
1. Toxic Management and Culture - The structure of this firm can be visualized like an inverted pyramid (yes, it's hard to picture that because most companies don't operate under that business model). There are more SMDs, MDs, Directors than there are senior associates and associates. It doesn't take much deep thinking to see the potential problems that can cause. To compound the problem, there is toxic management that displays harassment ex/implicitly.
2. Advancement (or there lack of) - Due to the inverted pyramid structure at Ankura, the top positions control most of the pie ($). And if you have more top positions that dominate the firm, there's less for the bottom. And yet the bottom, as countless others have previously mentioned, do a LOT of the work. Continuing on this downward spiral, the top don't sell enough work to justify their massive salaries. This isn't rocket science to understand the big red flags and/or consequences this causes...there is a high turnover rate that is being seen that doesn't establish any culture whatsoever to develop and maintain. In addition, there is no true HR/performance review process with no clear promotion trajectory,
After having started my new job a while ago after moving forward from Ankura, I can't understate how much I've grown professionally, emotionally, etc. I felt that I could've learned and grown so much more had I spent my time at a firm that truly cared about my well-being, professional development, etc other than Ankura.
