Thoughtworks reviews

4.0

78% would recommend to a friend

(4,669 total reviews)
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Mike Sutcliff

76% approve of CEO

56% positive business outlook

Thoughtworks has an employee rating of 4.0 out of 5 stars, based on 4,669 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Thoughtworks employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Tecnologías de la información industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

5K reviews
1.0
Aug 20, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

* No one really cares about the work you do or the skills one has as long as he/she reaches office on time and sucks up to the right people. * Lots of free time to do things apart from work.

Cons

* This company has quite figuratively turned to garbage in terms of the skillfulness and brilliance of the developers. Weak pursues are hired, time and again to meet the numbers, and the management itself is irrational and confused. * People with less skill but a big mouth are the only ones who grow within the company. Very often, developers send all-office mails talking about stupid problems that have been already solved, in order to just make themselves visible. Hardwork and real talent is unrecognized whereas your personal rapport with people is what determines your salary hike. The successful people are the ones who do 2-3 hours of work in a day, and spend the rest of the time engaging in mindless banter with people higher up in the management. * The quality of software projects has come down to becoming absolute garbage. The planning and architecting of projects is so ridiculously done that leads to multiple rewrites and refactoring to resolve major issues that come up well into the development of the project post it's inception. * Weightage is given to those with a big mouth. Whether it be international opportunities, or project opportunities, or role changes or choice of a technology stack - you will get all these only if you have spent the majority of your time in the company chatting up and sucking up to people instead of actually having worked for it.

2.0
Mar 30, 2014

On a slippery, downward slope

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

1. Many dedicated, smart, ethical, conscientious people still remain 2. ThoughtWorks is a good brand to have on your CV 3. The company does some heart-warming social good through its Social Impact Program

Cons

1. Nepotism, perfected to a science 2. Too many people thrive in ThoughtWorks by sheer dint of the fact that they have been a "ThoughtWorker" for over 5 years 3. Career counselling and goal setting are very ambiguous. 4. The inability to stick to a plan is very common here, whatever be the plan 5. This "flat" company has some unseen peaks and troughs which are invisible to the naked eye 6. Some of the best people have left this company's Indian operations in the last few months 7. Laterals have a really tough time 8. Misplaced intellectual arrogance abounds 9. A cloud of secrecy and stage-managed internal PR hides the real reason for many employees' exits, thereby giving rise to disconcerting rumours

2.0
Aug 11, 2023

A cult with a heritage

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

* Technical excellence. The consultants, especially those who started years before the APAX acquisition, are some of the smartest people you'll see in the tech sector. * The internal "software dev" mailing list has high quality technical conversation. * If you're lucky, you may get staffed on a project where you learn interesting things about both business and technology. * Opportunities to be visit and work in offices and clients in many countries, again, depending on your luck and connections.

Cons

* Thoughtworks is a cult. You have a vague sense when you're in it. It becomes much clearer once you leave. It has all the hallmarks of a cult: adulation of its founder; widespread indoctrination that starts with TW University for graduate hires; vociferous advocacy of its "secret sauce", i.e. the TW way; and low tolerance for differences of opinion, particularly on the so-called "social justice" pillar. * About that pillar: there is a strangely dogmatic combination of neo-socialism and neo-liberalism that runs through the company, especially some in leadership positions. Any dissenting voices, even those who simply ask their political views to be left alone, are likely to be shouted down and ostracized. * Who you know and how you impress them weighs more than what you know and how you can contribute. Thoughtworks is more prone to this than the average company. The so-called flat hierarchy encourages consultants to curry favors on the grapevine. The one with the most favorable rumors is likely to get better projects and promotions. * The leadership teams seem to relish their roles as petty tyrants. If your project's Delivery Leadership Team, usually 3 people strong, has a loudmouth who dislikes you, it is very likely you'll find it hard to last on the project. What's more, you'll get obscure negative feedback like "difficult to work with", "doesn't align with TW values", etc., which is sure to dent your career aspirations.

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Thoughtworks Response
2y
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We're disappointed to know that your experience with Thoughtworks wasn’t the best. Regarding your feedback, we may not always get it right, but we’re committed to make Thoughtworks the best place to work for all Thoughtworkers. If you're open to having a personal conversation to share more details about the experiences you've had regarding your time at Thoughtworks please do reach out to me at tim.ogorman@thoughtworks.com.
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