Thoughtworks reviews

4.1

94% would recommend to a friend

(3,381 total reviews)
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Mike Sutcliff

92% approve of CEO

55% positive business outlook

Thoughtworks has an employee rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars, based on 3,381 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent 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 10, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

ThoughtWorks still has a lot of great and smart people really interested in helping you (specially for women). Depending on the project and client you land on, you'll have a chance to expand your network, experiment working with different industries and technologies at diverse locations across UK (and internationally). Also you'll get to eat for free (of course, it depends where you're working but if you're a consultant out of your usual commute, you can get reimbursed). There is a personal development budget that you can use to get some training and go to conferences. A few interesting events if you are attached to the London office (don't know about Manchester).

Cons

Where do I begin? I've joined as a lateral hire (in TW lingo, this means someone that already had a career before) and spent almost a year trying to understand how TW works and what's the purpose of it all. Is it a non-profit disguised as a software consultancy? Body-shop that sucks less? Roy's little experiment? I left without any clue. First, as a consultant, even if they tell you that there is no manager, you'll be at the mercy of the staffing team, who can then send you to a client/project that can be great or just a body shop. TW has a great office in central London but don't believe the hype. If you are a consultant, you'll be spending most of your time at a client site, dealing with legacy tech, boring people, enterprise culture and usually travelling to less desirable locations across the UK. Your ability to grow and work on interesting things will depend on how good you are in networking and getting noticed (ie, politics). Best projects are kept for the most politically skilled (sorry, introverts). Second, everyone likes to blast how diverse and inclusive TW is and how everyone is able to freely have a discussion up to the CEO but this is only true if you are on the "right" side. TW has a lot of wonderful people, but it also has marxists, social justice warriors, hardcore feminists, LGBT advocates (they are the ones dictating the agenda). If you don't buy into this, you'll have a hard time there. I was more comfortable at a client side than in the London office (I felt no connection with other people there). And the idea to choose a sponsor to help you advance in your career is a joke.

3.0
Feb 1, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Dynamic environment: get to work with different technologies. - Get to work with some smart people. - Faster advancement in grades: you can get seniors with only 3 years experience. - Good healthcare benefits and personal development budget. - Very inclusive workplace. - Lots of freedom. - Lots of free snacks and food. - TW seems to still hold a good reputation for outsiders.

Cons

- Low pay compared to market: many people leave and then return to get a higher salary because the pay increases are very little each year. - Lots of office politics: do not expect to advance if you do not know anyone. Lots of senior people are only there because of their internal connections. - Recent hiring has lowered their standards: TW seem to be hiring just to fill numbers. Seems like there is a lot of unnecessary hiring when there are always a lot of people on the 'beach' i.e. not on projects. - Lots of smart people are leaving. - Leniency has meant a lot of people have started to slack and not be as motivated. - Lack of communication and structure/processes: everyone has a different understanding of processes in place. - Staffing decisions are made last minute: very unorganised staffing procedures. Also don't expect to have much say in where you are going unless you are very senior or know people. - Not as they advertise: there is not as much work in social justice or disrupting technology as they claim. - TW does not live up to its reputation anymore.

3.0
Aug 3, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

ThoughtWorks has its reputation and at times they live up to it. They have great projects, amazing people, awesome culture and it feels like a family. The training in India for grads is great, if your trainer likes you. There's space for opportunity and they're flexible if you want to do things like volunteering. The "Pillar 3" of social and economic justice is a core part of the culture and not just for show. Great teams, with plenty of team and company activities like the away days and local office days. They're really flexible on changing roles and it's more common for you to be staffed as different things rather than be pigeon holed into one role.

Cons

It's not a place for graduates. "The beach", which is where you're left to rot in a corner until staffing have bargained with someone to put you on their project. Six months on the beach as a graduate with no support was not fun, to say the least. Lack of support from seniority, especially in the Manchester office. It's chaotic to say the least, especially if the slightest thing goes wrong. They under pay massively and expect a ridiculous amount of devotion, travel, work hours - including weekends. In their recruitment videos they boast how you can walk into their offices and be who you are, yet their culture of feedback rips you to shreds. A few people, including myself, have said they felt like they needed a personality transplant when they got there. My advice for graduates is don't bother and apply as a lateral hire.

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