Here is how the "Great Recession" has truly affected this company:
- No emphasis on a "real career" since you have to take *whatever* project comes your way to stay employed (no joke!!!)
- Need a Masters degree and P.E. to even just to get first promotion / or able to bring in $2 million in consulting fees on a regular basis to get a promotion
- Kiss V.P. status goodbye if you are not involved in a fast growing sector (management expects 30% increase in section growth every year, which is unreasonable)
- Be prepared to travel a lot since engineers have be at a 90% utilization and have to go where the work is, otherwise you will be laid off
- "Decorated" people with Masters in Engineering/P.E./Professional Associates have been laid off from the company
- Likes to hire Senior level people who can bring in the work
- Lots of "little people" (0-5 years after college degree) around to do cheap labor, handful of people in the 5-20 year range, and lots of Sr. Managers around who bring in work
- Executive management places more emphasis on acquiring companies for growth vs. natural/stable growth, this also leads to domestic outsourcing (yes, not overseas outsourcing but local outsourcing since the company will acquire offices with technical skills on a national level and lay off people who have established 10-15 careers in their home office...this acquisition process keeps the Sr. V.P.'s and above employed)
- Lastly in regards to the high fee structure for HDR's engineering consultants, large profits are made off of their large salary multiplier rate and this profit is fed to the Omaha corporate office to help fuel the company's acquisitions
