Thoughtworks reviews

3.1

45% would recommend to a friend

(3,432 total reviews)
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Mike Sutcliff

56% approve of CEO

28% positive business outlook

Thoughtworks has an employee rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars, based on 3,432 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Thoughtworks employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Information Technology industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

3K reviews
3.0
Mar 16, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You'll learn alot - about technology, about yourself, about people.You'll learn at an incredible rate - mostly due to the smart people who will surround you. Of course - that will depend on the projects on which you get slapped. ThoughtWorks' approach to agile is better than that of any other company I've seen. When you travel, you're often with at least several others who are also traveling. Offers opportunities to socialize with colleagues in strange cities. Most ThoughtWorkers don't like Scrum. They prefer XP. This is good. Agile engineering practices are vital to successful implementation of agile. You'll learn this.

Cons

Travel can be onerous for those who want to maintain their personal relationships where they live (e.g. spouses, kids, friends). You don't often get a choice in where you end up. Fort Lauderdale in the winter? Great. New Hampshire? Not so much. You'll hear that you have a say in where you go, but you often don't have much of a choice at all. Flat hierarchy sounds nice, but can impart a significant political toll on your career. I know at least a dozen excellent folks who have been fired for various reasons - political, scapegoats for projects, folks not willing to violate their own sense of integrity to push company objectives that were incongruent with their values. Decide whether to fly under the radar, or challenge the radar itself. I know many current TWorkers who chose the former. I know ex-TWorkers who chose the latter. Politically, conservative views are poison here. There's a contingent there who thinks that Venezuela - under Chavez - was the model government. The predominant view is for bigger government. Contrary to the claim that dissenting/challenging views are accepted at the company, I've seen such expressions emit firestorms and tank careers. One very high level leader oscillates between saying he's a communist and that he's a socialist. If you're aligned with this - no problem. If not, consider staying under the radar with your views. Bill your hours to the client, then do your ThoughtWorks work. Expenses. Interviewing. Booking travel. Code Reviews for candidates. Working on RFP's. You get the picture. Be sure that you continue to bill your 40 hours though. Bill 60 hours on a project week after week? Not even an attagirl. Another integrity issue: SVIP.

1.0
Mar 16, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

+ Awesome resources to learn and get insights + If you are a learning freak, you get a chance to work with some awesome folks from other offices. Lucky me!

Cons

- Nasty Politics. - The middle management is plain sucky. They carry themselves to heavily, throwing their weights around, carrying the air of demolishing powers. - Lickers can't be Leaders. But you'll see such folks holding high offices to the extent of becoming Office Principles - You're loud mouthed, enjoy discriminatory politics, hypocrite, and have no mind licking whatever to climb the "Office Ladder", this place is for you - You're a Humble Geek that talks straight, have zero tolerance for nonsense, don't like to get involved in office politics, then this definitely is not the place for you - Place to party hard, spend time in office all day and night and do everything that comes your way but work - It is in this office that I've experienced the false geeks like hell. If you're that true geek, you'll be wise to laugh silently looking at the ways these folks "work". - My enormous sympathies lies with some of the solid freshers whose talent go drains :(

4.0
Mar 9, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

It's a great place to work. Some exciting projects, dedicated training budget and you get to work with some truly brilliant people. Has a mission and vision that staff actually believe in. Very flexible with re-locating to other offices and countries. While your career path is ambiguous, it allows you to transition to any role you want.

Cons

ThoughtWorks has a reputation for having arrogant staff, and it's true. A lot of ThoughtWorkers fail to appreciate why a client has wound up in their current state and speak down to them and try to re-architect everything. This arrogance occasionally shows towards other staff, with new hires being dismissed or belittled because it is perceived that their outside experience does not count. Expect to travel, even if you're in a major hub like Sydney. While most clients are good, we still work with clients who are not culturally aligned or technologically exciting, but pay the bills.

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