Pros
There’s a lot of incredible people at the company, with experts in every field of engineering. A lot of creative and inspired ideas have come from their global teams who share ideas regularly. It’s a great experience to have so many global experts available internally. Their focus on diversity and inclusion is an inspiration in an industry dominated primarily by white men. The “Invest in Arup” program allows employees to apply for internally funded projects which is a great opportunity for employees to develop new tools, products, and strategies outside of traditional projects. Opportunities for short and long term travel are incredible.
Cons
Company profit share is based strictly on global profitability, an individual’s grade / job title, and base salary. This helps avoid favoritism issues at smaller firms, but also means staff who put in more effort than others aren’t rewarded financially aside from a possible promotion the next year. Promotions and pay adjustments only occur once per year. This is generally a good idea and helps ensure all raises occur with equal consideration of an entire team, but can also have a side effect of holding back high performing staff and staff that was under-hired initially. When senior leaders and managers do recommend promoting high-performing staff mid-year and make a business case for it, they are general not successful. It is an ongoing joke that by the time staff are promoted to leadership levels, most feel it was far past due for them.