Good projects, Bad Work - Anonymous employee SmithGroup Employee Review

2.0
Nov 14, 2017
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Win lots of nice looking projects to put in your portfolio. Great learning experience for young staff- for a year or two. Nice people.

Cons

No design influence from majority of staff. Design dictated down by design director. Not a lot of thinking outside the box is expected or accepted. Do as you’re told, Status quo. Often hires unqualified candidates. Over worked and under paid. Burnout. Design and sustainability are not thought through and often BS’ed. Think entire buildings designed in a 100 hour work week leading up to deadlines. Staffing/management issues. Money first, design second.

Explore other reviews about SmithGroup

5.0
May 22, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Very welcoming environment with talented engineers and architects. They’re passionate about sustainability and performance-driven design. IMPACT is great as well.

Cons

Tasks could get boring after a while, which is true for repetitive work in any field, not just this company. But for a short-term internship, everything felt enjoyable and educational.

3.0
Jul 21, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Occasional Friday-offs (normal workday is 8.5 hours)

Cons

Low salary Top-heavy organization structure Tendency to silo

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