ZS Associates reviews

As the title suggests, the law of the jungle applies here. The HR and the senior management create a fake wonderland about the organization and boast how great the firm is and how cool people work here but in reality its every man for himself. Dog eat dog mentality. Fierce office politics which is dominant in every practice ZS hires tons of fresh graduates every year overloads them with double work until they frustrate and leave the organization. The turnover rate is very high (no wonder they are constantly hiring even the revenue growth is minimal). Mandatory markdown ensures that you are given less rating even though you are doing all things right, as the senior management gets higher profits ! No real skill development opportunities exist. A/AC level employees are made to do data entry type of jobs. No scope for innovation and development. Top management is like a narcissist dictator who does not like to listen to any feedback or suggestions for improvements in the organization. (reminds me of north Korea) The review system is a joke and senior management gives good ratings only to those who butter them up and all those who are managers pets. Even if there are no projects/work, the employees are marked down for low utilization. People who threaten to quit are given immediate promotions just to retain them. Others who grow just pretend to do a lot of work and be super busy. Senior management cut corners to save few bucks even if it is wrong or unethical just to show that they have done something great for the firm. Experienced hires from real consulting firm get a shock of their life to see the true colors of the organization and leave immediately as they see no growth opportunities. On the other hand people who start their career at ZS, when they leave and join better companies are pleasantly surprised as their life becomes stress free, people are nicer and they have a better work life balance and better growth and better career opportunity.

In the past couple years, ZS has become more of a data shop/temp agency and not so much a consulting firm, at least on the East Coast. 80% of projects are either in operations, or are temporary staffing assignments for clients that have a short term hiring need or position that needs to be filled. Strategy projects are extremely rare. Say goodbye to professional development once you are on an on-site role. The quality of people hired at ZS has declined as well. Projects used to be staffed in the US with some really smart people. In the past couple years, as ZS has tried to grow extremely fast (while cutting costs). Projects are now staffed mostly in India, with very few team members in the US. Be ready for midnight calls with off-shore team members, and be ready to spend your morning fixing their mistakes. Promotions have slowed significantly as the principals look to protect their equity sharing and cut costs. Nowadays, ZS is only good if you want to become an expert in sales force operations. If you are looking for a real consulting role, look elsewhere.