As an engineer, it's a difficult environment to succeed in. Engineers tend to get the backseat in terms of leadership experience (compared to Architects). They also take much longer to develop upward momentum compared to architects due to the limited opportunity to do so, both in terms of the narrow amount of openings, as well as a much smaller audience to communicate talent to. This leads to mainly two brackets of staff, entry level (0-5 years experience) and management (20-30 years experience), with few exceptions in between. It can also take a very long time to get an opportunity for client-facing experiences in the design world, particularly in the structural department, but also in the engineering sector as a whole. This does not seem to be the case for architects.
Another comment which would come as no surprise for a large corporate entity: lay-offs are common and ruthless. I have seen several leadership staff members with 20 years at the firm get let go with little mention. I've also seen several mid-level roles be let go without any warning signs. Batch lay-offs once or twice a year were common at the 5-6 years I've was there.
The following is an incredibly sensitive piece of information, something I realize could be damaging, but should be disclosed none the less. I (as well as others) have personally experienced discrimination, sexual harassment, and favoritism in the workplace. This is common among a lot of large corporate environments, but can be infuriatingly blunt and obvious at CannonDesign. Racism and sexism is still very evident, though some departments can be worse than others. From what I can gather between personal experience and others, it tends to be much more common on the engineering side.
For example, and this example happened only within my department, there have been occasions when gathering with my supervisor for personal events that I've heard (either spoken directly at me or toward someone else) very racist comments about Jewish, Latino, and African-American persons. There were also multiple occasions when my supervisor groped my wife below her back if you know what I mean, in addition to inappropriate comments about her as well. This isn't an isolated occurrence, as I've heard similar stories from others too. This should be made very clear for anyone deciding to join the company, as well as the company itself. Please contact me for more information if needed.
