Pros
There are some truly amazing people who work for this firm. Considering how much time you will spend with your colleagues, it's great to work for such a talented, insightful, and fun group of people. The firm is also big, so there a plenty of systems already set up for you to help streamline your work and save you time. You'll also have the opportunity to work with some of the biggest clients and on some amazing projects that you would never see anywhere else. During my first few years, I was convinced that I found my "dream job." I was dazzled.
Cons
It's a big company, so the politics, bureaucracy, jargon, and double-speak that one expects is most certainly present. Despite the official story, the focus is very clearly on making money over design, and this is where Gensler excels. While they do pay overtime as the result of Art Gensler's very fair outlook "If you are doing work for us, we will pay you for it," there is also a culturally embedded pressure to NOT report the actual time you work. In fact, some projects will be organized without fee or proper leadership, leaving the burden of making up for it on junior designers who are encouraged to "donate" their time. There are quite literally hundreds of "initiatives" out there vying for attention and staff hours. Very few have any budget, so once again, employees are expected to "donate" their time to it. While these are often created to give those involved much needed exposure, they greatly distract from core project work. Add to already overloaded design staff, and the result is unfocused, scattered, or half-baked designs. Very senior leadership is, at least in the DC office, both literally and figuratively detached from all studio staff. The most recent renovation design clearly indicates that they have no interest in actually being engaged with the office. Most cannot ascertain their roles, and those who have close interaction with them indicate that there is a large gap between their public and actual personas. Most insider anecdotes tend to be less than flattering. Compensation tends to be less than one expects. Part is that Gensler is smart- they are a well known brand name and use that to their advantage in negotiations. There are two bonuses: one is set while the other tends to be more merit-based. The latter is ingenious in that it is pitched as part of a total compensation package, but is a complete unknown until the day you receive it. As a result, most staff go through efforts to do anything they can to make it larger despite having no idea what factors actually determine its size. This means lots of free overtime, making new initiatives, political behavior, and shameless self-promotion. After more experience within the organization, I started seeing things that startled me. The Emperor was missing his clothes.