Good to learn some basics, then skedaddle like your life depends on it (because it might). - Consultant Urbis Employee Review

2.0
Nov 18, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Fast learning environment if you start as a student, lots of responsibility quickly. Reasonably self directed depending on sector, Good WFH procedures and flexible arrangements, but no fully WFH if you want that. Free food is pretty frequent (if its a good profit year for them) They got a company uber account etc which is handy. They are good at verbal reinforcement which is why they kept me there so long. Freedom to do your own thing creatively a lot of the time. Some roles can lounge around and do nothing and its pretty comfortable (but others have to pick up their slack). Decent career progression (in my department anyway) Lots of social events

Cons

Stressful environment, responsibilities are pushed down the chain until you've got juniors being punished for fee proposals they've never even seen. Middle management can be awful and useless. They strongly encourage you to do far more than you should be for the job role, with no compensation (overtime is usually not paid, and if it is, their policy is that it is at half rates). One guy in our department worked a hundred hour week, and instead of recognising him in any way, they decided to push others to follow the example. They will lowball you on first offer (by a lot) stick to your reasonable researched market number and have them play catchup, whomever is deciding salaries hasn't picked up a survey since 2000. Generally cover yourself where possible as they aren't trustworthy, i.e. they will promise you raises and bonuses (like a specific number via email and everything) then not deliver. Turns out performance bonuses arent legally binding even if you far exceed target, who knew. Like 5 people in my department left for mental health reasons within a few months because the directors got a bit verbally abusive with everyone.

Explore other reviews about Urbis

1.0
Jun 25, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Nice offices and good location close to transport.

Cons

I was based in the Parramatta team and my comments are as follows: - Remuneration is well below market rate. Smaller firms are offering much higher salaries even though their hourly charge out rates are the same or less. - Expectation that senior consultants undertake B2B tasks for the purpose of bringing in work / clients even though this is outside the scope of their KPIs and typically a responsibility of a Director. - Unfair allocation of cost overruns to juniors without consultation which directly impacts their bonus and revenue targets. - Insufficient work to facilitate the career progression of staff. Most staff were desperate for work and found it difficult to fill out their timesheets. Additionally, work allocation is inequitable with female staff disproportionally impacted by the lack of billable work. - Male dominated with no females in senior leadership positions. - Poor project management from directors / senior staff who set completely unrealistic deadlines for major deliverables and brought deadlines forward without sufficient notice. For this reason the workplace culture does not support work-life balance and is not ideal for people who have family commitments. - Often there was no review of reports prior to submission to external parties due to time constraints and poor project management. - All staff are required to be in the office 4 days a week however I only saw my line manager a handful of times during 2023 and once the following year. Emails and requests to review work were often ignored. Very few regular checkins and the standard performance appraisal process that is meant to apply to all staff was not adhered to meaning there was little support or mentoring. - High turnover amongst female staff who are concentrated at the lower levels. Most promotions over the past few years have been awarded to male staff. - Time spent preparing fee proposals and tenders (which contributes to generating billable work for other staff) is directly deducted from your annual revenue target. - Technical capabilities of some senior managers were questionable. For example, projects were scoped as SSD even when there was a question mark over whether it was regional development or the Director didn't know the site area which had implications for how the client formulated unit yields and GFA calculations, leading to problems later down the track.

4
2.0
May 27, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Nice office with plenty of morning teas, free breakfast daily and some lovely and knowledgeable staff

Cons

Toxic managers with unrealistic expectations and damaging management styles resulting in high staff turnover and low team morale. Pay is also not competitive compared to other firms.

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