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Poor Management and Woeful IT - Sinking fast in Water Ops! - Engineer Atkins Employee Review

1.0
Jul 17, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Friendly office, convenient for the Town Centre and rail commute.

Cons

Not really a design office. Competence of qualified Engineers questionable. Small projects and uninspiring work which is very repetitive. Can be left stuck doing the same thing with very little variety. Corporate in the extreme. No real focus from management on what the company is supposed to be doing engineering wise. More concerned about coming up with new strategies and hitting targets and billing clients, rather than providing engineering services that clients actually need. Hire and fire mentality. IT systems are slow and archaic. Lots of unproductive time gets billed to the client. Middle management ineffective and live in a bubble and are not very aware. Higher management much the same but worse. In fact, they are not even visible but hide away and only appear when they announce another new strategy, as the last one didn't work, so they need to feel like they are doing something, usually a last minute reactionary effort at the expense of staff...ie: increasing working hours to reduce the selling price to clients in the hope it will win work and profit margins can increase. Too late you won't win work because nobody wants to give it to you.

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5.0
Oct 13, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

A lot of work to be done Many opportunities to try different things

Cons

Advancement can be hard Working alongside underperformers

2.0
Nov 17, 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Job and a paycheck but in a house of cards.

Cons

Wow, be careful! Atkins North America was acquired when Atkins in London bought a notorious US engineering based in Florida, PBS&J (Post, Buckley, Shuh and Jernigan). I didn't do enough research when hired and found out too late I was working for a company that has been prosecuted multiple times for serious illegalities, and some of the executives who participated but escaped prosecution are still there! PBS&J has been indicted for bribing government officials, illegal campaign contributions, and was a private company put on the chopping blocks to sell for being so poorly managed when several of the employees embezzled millions upon millions of dollars. As recent as 2016 the company was struggling financially because of legal costs and fines to the extent the focus became finishing out existing contracts rather than procuring new ones...an indicator they do not want new business and are likely to chop off the US engineering wing and spin those employees out to another company. Do your research before accepting a job there, the good old boy network that didn't previously get caught or prosecuted in the illegalities is still working there, and they haven't changed much in being secretive about what they are doing!! Get everything in writing as they are all about the bait and switch.

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