GLG reviews

2.6

24% would recommend to a friend

(2,259 total reviews)
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Gemma Postlethwaite

21% approve of CEO

18% positive business outlook

GLG has an employee rating of 2.6 out of 5 stars, based on 2,259 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The GLG employee rating is 30% below average for employers within the Administración y consultoría industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

2K reviews
1.0
May 15, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There are enough miserable employees, that you band together and form strong friendships.

Cons

GLG is a cult, treats employees like cattle, herding us from team to team. In my 1.5 years at GLG I have been on 5 different teams, partly because everyone hates it so much that they leave, and partly because GLG just ushers you around with zero regards for you and your career and what you may want to get out of the experience. The good thing is, you are considered a veteran if you have been there for more than 1.5 years!! Wow, imagine that. People leave in herds. It is widely known at GLG that everyone is looking for a job. It is shocking to find people who aren't actively searching for other opportunities. Managers aren't trained, and many are given manager roles, 2 years out of undergrad with zero training. In addition, there is a high level of paranoia. Colleagues are questioned when they go to lunch with teammates, and managers laugh when we suggest we take an hour lunch break, as is written in the employee handbook. On public holidays, the expectation is that at least one person from the team is working remotely. This means that, for example, on a holiday like 4th July, someone is working, for no additional compensation. The work is monotonous and dry; my 9th grade classes were honestly more challenging. Upper management spends more money on producing cultish videos than actually making any change. I could write a lot more, but quite honestly, GLG is not worth it. All I can say is, unless you are desperate, do yourself a favor and don't work here.

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GLG Response
7y
Each employee’s experience is important to us, and we’re sorry this was yours. Rapid growth requires a level of agility that can be tricky to get right. We know this. That’s why, as we enter this next chapter, we’re relying on insights from employees around the world to determine what matters most to us as a company. We’re continuing to refine our flex work policy to ensure the fairest and most sensible solution for everyone. We’re also restructuring (and adjusting expectations for) a number of our roles to better reflect the nature of the work. We’re committed to finding new ways to make GLG a great place to work for everybody – regardless of role, department, or level of seniority.
1.0
Sep 24, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- There is a great sense of camaraderie between Research Associates at GLG. Everyone hates it after 3 months. If they stay, it's because they have to or because they haven't found anything else yet. - If you're lucky enough, you'll stumble upon a project which actually interests you and through that you'll get to interact with interesting experts. (Make the most of it) - The people, some experts and the salary are the only things that kept me sane for that long.

Cons

-The nature of the work at GLG is simply mindless. As a Research Associate you'll sit at your desk for 9+ hours per day sifting through endless pages of LinkedIn searches, looking for experts and duping them into thinking that you are offering them an interesting consulting opportunity. I felt like I was getting dumber and dumber, the more time I spent at GLG. -No chances to grow A fictitious 'Senior Research Associate' position is continuously waived in your face like some sort of reward, which can only be achieved if some ridiculous and counterproductive metric is reached. The metrics are dependent on the amount of recruits you add to the network... effectively making this a recruiting job. Also, trainings are a lie, they are specific to GLG and cannot be applied in any other context (maybe at Alphasights if that's your thing). -Unhealthy levels of micromanagement EVERY SINGLE MINUTE is accounted for. You are sitting next to your manager who basically watches over you for the entirety of the working day. No ownership in your work, no responsibilities. Key words to watch out for which are simply lies: "Thought-partner with the client" - False, client is convinced GLG is a call centre that charges a lot. "Research" - False, the research is a recruiting search. Not research. "Networking with industry leaders and key thinkers" - False. The experts are convinced Associates and GLG staff are dumb, and the majority are so frustrated with the GLG process that they are not interested in an actual conversation about the 'projects' "Project management' - False. This involves a 10-15 minute search on the topic, followed by a project write up which usually takes 10 minutes, followed by the pressing of a button which send a mass invite to the experts. This is not project management.

1.0
Jul 9, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great experience for recent grads (B/C schools) who have not figured out what they want with their career, decent client exposure at junior levels, the job is promoted as research associate- in fact you will be a recruiter for 2 years, it's a boring and repetitive job, you will develop soft skills but will be definitely bored after 2-3 months. You will spend 90% of your time searching a database and cold calling/LinkedIn recruiting. Managers are account owners - very repetitive job, decent client exposure, but very superficial contact - you are incentivised to sell services to clients/ upgrade their usage.

Cons

Complete waste of time for people with at least 2-3 years of experience and a good skill set. Very limited career opportunities, very political environment, bad compensation, the work is repetitive, boring and does not require any quant nor research skills. Terrible culture, the management is only interested about cost cutting and does not care about employees' career development/skills set. GLG services are becoming commoditised, no corporate culture- it feels like expensive call center. Do not recommend, it is only suitable for people who have no career aspirations. Employees are disengaged, limited career development opportunities and very high turnover since the new management joined the firm. GLG values are solely related to boosting profits- the company charges clients huge mark-ups without delivering real value.

Viewing 43 - 45 of 2,259 Reviews

Glassdoor has 2,546 GLG reviews submitted anonymously by GLG employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if GLG is right for you.