Wood Mackenzie reviews

3.3

57% would recommend to a friend

(879 total reviews)
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Jason Liu

49% approve of CEO

47% positive business outlook

Wood Mackenzie has an employee rating of 3.3 out of 5 stars, based on 879 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Wood Mackenzie employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Management & Consulting industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

879 reviews
2.0
Oct 24, 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The people at the low and middle management levels are genuine, hard-working and determined. I've never worked in such a cooperative team environment. That is to say, that cooperative, enthusiastic spirit ends as you move up the leadership ranks. I have learned so much from my colleagues and those one level above me - all dedicated, inspired people that care about the work and the clients.

Cons

Sadly, the culture I listed in the pros section does not extend to HR and other sector leadership. This is truly a UK centric company and reaching above the level of VP is essentially a popularity contest - and to get voted in, it helps if you are a white UK male and you don't rock the boat by (heaven forbid) asking questions or discussing myopic decisions made by upper management. Those who are the face of the company and lead client engagement and/or teams of analysts are not considered authoritative enough to have a voice in key decisions. Instead, the UK management club makes decisions in a vacuum and then expects those below who actually lead the work to ask "how high" when they say "jump." Your workforce is people who excel at analysis - and that workforce bringing up valid issues when far-reaching decisions are made are not disgruntled, they are logical professionals who can see the ramifications of decisions made in a vacuum. Further, Woodmac has shifted from independent, unbiased advisory to advocacy for the energy transition. Regardless of how your political opinions may fall, this is a drastic change from the foundation upon which Woodmac was built and is not what most of the client base wants - they pay above market for Woodmac's independent, informed and thorough analysis - not to be lobbied to like a member of Congress. People are leaving the company in droves and upper mamagement has their heads in the sand.

1.0
Apr 3, 2018

Where there are people, there will be politics...

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Vacation, and people actually take it.

Cons

Hierarchy is important here. There are many layers of management and the deeply entrenched guard their seats expertly. Continuous reorganization is the constant motion (in place) that justifies the layers. Every firm has politics, but here the politics are the primary pursuit. Tenure is chiefly important and being male, white and born in the UK or Commonwealth conveys such advantage that it is not perceived. To those in positions to decide on promotion and resource allocation, this cherished set has earned what they've gotten because the lens has been so consistently applied over such a long period of time it just is no longer detectable as a bias. It has been implicitly agreed and reinforced. Surviving outside of the chosen demo is a function of pretending to be grateful for second class citizenship (perhaps a stretch to use citizen rather than subject). This is the way that building bridges justified rank imperialism. Could go on to the seamless integration of the British cad tradition and old fashioned Texas sexism but won't.

1.0
Dec 16, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

A couple cool, nice analysts. Decent for the resume. No internet filters.

Cons

Where to begin....this company is just not as advertised. They say they provide a third-party, independent view on the industry when in reality the firm is more concerned about regurgitating whatever the oil companies are saying in an effort to appease their clients. This leads to the viewpoints being safe and behind the curve. By the time Wood Mackenzie says something it is so blatantly obvious to everyone that it means nothing. The company has a serious management problem. The analysts are really the only thing holding this place together. Management is totally out of touch and does not even know how to solve simple problems. Maybe this is because upper management is more concerned about someone's race and gender when considering promotions, instead of intelligence. This company is political and corrupt. Secrecy is common when dealing with basic issues that would be open in any other office environment. My manager was routinely rude to me and would single me out for no reason, this was obvious to all of my teammates. I went to HR to discuss what was happening...and I was fired the next day. Clearly, this place is corrupt. Clearly, this place is not concerned about analysts and their development. Who should work here? Wood Mac is not a career destination, it is more of a stepping stone or resume filler, especially for someone without business experience (geologists, engineers, etc.). Working here straight out of school is a big mistake. There is extremely high turnover here, and if your read what I wrote above I think it should be pretty clear why.

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