Most employees are seasoned at Kantar, with being there for 6 years+. Many of whom started their careers at Kantar, and never left. It’s clear why they’ve never left, because they have no real marketable skills. They’ve never been able to leave, and subsequently got stuck. Many don’t even know what else is out there, their view is narrowed by the lack of any actual strategic or innovative work. If you are an employee don’t work here. If you represent a brand, don’t contract them. And if you are a vendor don’t work with them. Company is extremely top heavy, which causes directors and sr directors to be doing analyst level work. While VPs sit back and provide “thought leadership.” Office culture is ominous, probably due to Covid. I feel bad for the entry level employees who were hired by Kantar within the last 2 years right out of college. They know nothing else besides the Kantar way, but believe the Kantar way is the only way. It’s quite sad. You’ll notice that most of the 4 and 5 star reviews here, are by mostly analysts and sub-director employees. This is for many reasons. 1.) Because these employees are left in the dark about the decisions being made by senior leadership, and are sheltered by the impact of those decisions 2.) they are living the good life. they are underworked and overpaid, and are constantly reminded to “manage bandwidth”. I swear kids these days are graduating with a degree in “bandwidth management” and a minor in “avoiding burnout.” 3.) at no fault of their own, they have no idea how anything works, and they are brainwashed into believing they are getting good experience. Many reviews here blaming the new NA CEO. They are wrong. The talent at Kantar is the problem, and they want you to believe that a CEO who was appointed only 8 months ago is the problem? There were underlying systemic issues within Kantar long before the new CEO came in. Within his first month in office, he traveled to most US offices to understand the business and identify issues. And issues he identified indeed. Massive issues that needed massive solutions. Kantar employees are unbelievably resistant to any sort of change, innovation, or creativity. So don’t be distracted by the deflection from current employees who are unhappy and unable to truly think forward. In my opinion, changes needed to happen. And there are still more changes that need to happen. The only way to truly fix Kantar, is to fully uproot everything Kantar stands for, which at this point is an impossible task.
