Pros
Plenty of scope to make meaningful impact. The new office set-up makes in-person collaboration smoother.
Cons
Even though the organisation is positioned as inclusive, day-to-day experience can feel excluding for ethnic minority employees and for women. Representation is low, and concerns about discrimination don’t always appear to be handled with consistent follow-through or transparency. The result is extra emotional labour on top of delivering, and a sense that psychological safety is uneven. In meetings, ideas can be taken more seriously when repeated by more senior voices, and direct but respectful challenge can carry career risk. Progression and recognition often feel tied to visibility and managing upwards rather than the quality of work. There also isn’t a strong, empowered ERG that clearly represents minority staff interests and can influence change. From a delivery perspective, product feels underinvested: limited development, under-staffed teams; managers and associates/analysts stretched across too much. Combined with significant bureaucracy and red tape, speed to delivery and time-to-market are slow; when delivery is fast, it can be because trade-offs are made that shouldn’t be necessary.
