My Time and Observations At Snohetta - Anonymous employee Snøhetta Employee Review

3.0
Mar 17, 2017
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Snohetta has a wonderful vision in which they strive for; diversity, human rights, community engagement, and culture beyond architecture and design. Almost everyone at the company was helpful, interactive, engaging, and pleasant to work with and the vibe in the office was empathetic and relaxed much of the time.

Cons

Transparency is touted often at Snohetta, but that's not the case, as secret meetings outside of board meetings are held constantly and the organization is facing a struggle to manage complexity while keeping trying to promote self-direction. There seems to be two Snohetta's now: one which things were fun, relaxed, laid back, but there's a new Snohetta which is about revenue generation and cost control. For those looking to join in Snohetta after hearing a lecture at their college, many interns come are let down by the lack of diversity and culture Snohetta initially boasted on, with 60% male, 40% female, about three Latinos and no African Americans. The salaries are lower than that of many competing architectural firms and staffing is awful and not getting any better as people are placed on projects they are needed rather that what they're optimal in. It has become a powder keg of mistrust between employees and management that no one is willing to admit and the turnout is increasing as other firms are sucking hard working and creative people from Snohetta to join in their ranks. As the economy has stabilized and other firms are getting major projects, the likelihood of office happy hours will no longer be enough to keep the best employees working there.

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5.0
Mar 14, 2026
Anonymous intern
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

good workplace culture, good projects

Cons

could be intense when projects move fast

2.0
Jun 16, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Outgoing designers and staff that create a social environment. Lots of knowledge and knowledge sharing between younger staff. Motivated projects and lots of time on a project to explore concepts. Looks good on a resume.

Cons

Specifically for US offices: When I started, the firm had 100 US employees, and 60 when I left. The leadership never adapted to run a large firm from when it used to be much smaller. The decision making was illogical and esoteric. There was very little opportunity to move up in the firm and little explanation as how to advance. The pay is significantly lower than other comparable firms. The inflation adjustments were irregular and sparse, while leadership provided little clarity on their decision making while trying to convince staff that they were being transparent. There was lots of gaslighting towards younger employees that this behavior is normal for a company. Little change actually done even when asked for feedback on company processes. Leadership is convinced that they have a diverse workplace while not actually having gender or racial diversity. They have a lot of “values” attributed to the firm but rarely practice them.

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