Better than most mid size design firms - Avis employé Employé (anonyme) workshop/apd

I've had an excellent experience at Workshop. When I was having trouble working with a difficult manager, they were very open to addressing my concerns and found an appropriate role for me elsewhere in the firm. My current manager is lovely - I receive clear direction and kind, constructive feedback. My role requires frequent interaction with the firm's leadership team and I've found them to be generous, kind, and open to feedback. They obviously care very deeply about their work and taking care of their employees. They are dedicated to rewarding performance, which shows up in generous annual bonuses and consistent salary raises. The culture at Workshop is also very strong. The firm is very clear about their values and actively strives to meet them. There are always a ton of events going on sponsored by the firm, like happy hours, trainings, vendor events, parties, and team outings. The staff seem to enjoy working together and are great at welcoming new team members.

Designers tend to work long hours around deadlines, but that seems pretty standard for the industry. I've heard from colleagues that some project leaders are more difficult to work with than others.

A lot of exciting projects! As a designer I think the project exposure is great for high end residential projects. Worked on some pretty cool ones in great locations. The standards are pretty high but usually the PMs are supportive, (as an Intermediate I appreciated the effort to meet standards). Sometimes some long hours, mostly due to client demands but leadership tends to be generous around holidays so makes it very balanced (I've been in worse places where they don't even offer summer hours).

Maybe to tie it to some of the comments about senior management - there seems to be some miscommunication between SST that creates this sense of micromanagement or lack of delegation skills and then it trickles down. Personally I have not experience manipulation, gaslighting or any condescending tones. Even during my reviews there was a level of support and constructive criticism, I like to be proactive so I would make sure to set these conversations early and just deal with them. You get what you put into it basically.