Abt Associates Employee Reviews about "junior staff"
71% would recommend to a friend
(84 total reviews)
Kathleen L. Flanagan
80% approve of CEO
Found 84 of over 625 reviews
Updated Nov 25, 2023
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Top Review Highlights by Sentiment
Excerpts from user reviews, not authored by Glassdoor
- "Staff must go through assistants or newly hired 'chiefs of staff' to reach senior leadership." (in 19 reviews)
- "Will not be exaggerated if said that maybe half of the management is beyond their level of incompetence,very poor management and inter" (in 18 reviews)
- "Salaries are low for entry level MPH/Masters holders and outrageously high when you know" (in 14 reviews)
Ratings by Demographics
This rating reflects the overall rating of Abt Associates and is not affected by filters.
Reviews about "junior staff"
Return to all Reviews- 3.0Dec 25, 2016Technical SpecialistCurrent Employee, more than 3 yearsAddis Ababa
Pros
high technical involvement
Cons
Salary level for LCN and some outdated staffs
1 - 4.0Jul 10, 2018Anonymous EmployeeCurrent Employee
Pros
junior level staff given responsibility and lots of learning opportunities
Cons
understaffed, sometimes have to do a lot of administrative work
1 - 4.0Jan 19, 2022Communications SpecialistCurrent Employee, less than 1 yearRockville, MD
Pros
Abt recognized that turnover is a costly problem and is trying to make improvements for junior staff. These include trying to create promotion pathways so people can move up internally, offering incentives like spot benefits and career-growth oriented programs like project management certifications, etc. Abt also has a relatively generous vacation and compensation package.
Cons
There's some pressure to work overtime, but some people successfully manage this by setting up boundaries to prevent burn out. In general, junior staff are managed with a very high level of scrutiny, and despite career-growth trainings and other incentives, many don't stay at Abt because they don't feel empowered to make decisions and aren't trusted to manage projects.
- 4.0Jun 2, 2015Anonymous EmployeeCurrent EmployeeBetheden, MS
Pros
Abt Associates has a solid footprint in the developing world. It has build a reputation, especially for health financing and system strengthening which is well-deserved and undisputed. On a commercial basis, it has become expensive with bloated overhead staff but generally the technical staff are first rate.
Cons
The general consensus on issues is recruitment leadership is below parr. Despite 2-3 years there is still no strategic direction or remote leadership. This aspect should definitely be changed to enhance all aspects of HR and staff recruitment.
1 - 3.0Dec 18, 2018CommunicationsCurrent Employee, more than 1 yearRockville, MD
Pros
Great vision. Updated office environment. Motivated staff.
Cons
Too much of a focus on profit takes away from the companies mission. The focus on ensuring each staff member bills a client for each 15 minutes worked creates a less social and friendly work environment. The location is far from ideal and staff who live in DC often face well over an hour commute each way.
8 - 4.0Dec 29, 2013Anonymous EmployeeCurrent Employee, more than 3 yearsBethesda, MD
Pros
Hands down, the people. Staff at Abt are very smart and experienced. Probably varies based on division, but my bosses have been excellent mentors. Also, the company provides good opportunities for growth, both in terms of skills/responsibility and promotion. Salary, merit increases and benefits are solid, although salary may not stack up as well against other larger consulting firms.
Cons
Like other consulting firms, when projects/accounts end and there's a dry sales year, people will be let go. Sometimes there aren't enough bodies to do the work required, leading to poor work life balance due to high expectations and limited staff. While Abt employs young people, there is a large push for young people to leave and get advanced degrees after 2-3 years, making it difficult for people with a bachelor's to continue advancing. Annual tuition reimbursement is meager despite the stringent requirement for advancement.
- 2.0May 31, 2019Anonymous EmployeeFormer Employee, more than 3 yearsRockville, MD
Pros
-Flexible working arrangements -Smart colleagues -Interesting work -Has a nice 'mobility marketplace' to help more junior staff find interesting work across the company
Cons
-Senior leadership is utterly clueless -Contracts, finance, etc. horribly understaffed and processes are so convoluted project directors spend all their time mired in bureaucracy instead of doing any meaningful project work -Hemorrhaging good people, mostly through voluntary departures, but also some puzzling layoffs -Completely destroyed the value of 2 acquired companies -- almost no one from either is left and all their core work has evaporated -Although "mission driven" the real focus is billability, sales goals, etc. Much more like working at a publicly-traded company than an employee-owned company.
20 - 5.0Sep 11, 2021Financial AccountantCurrent Employee, more than 3 yearsAbuja, Niger
Pros
Great place to work and very flexible
Cons
Very few travel opportunities for finance and administration staff
- 2.0Nov 3, 2019Anonymous EmployeeFormer Employee
Pros
This is just a review for Abts Division of Data science and enabling technologies (DSET). Can’t speak for the other divisions. Great comradery with your peers. Not to say that it’s all friendly and welcoming but there a huge sense of worker solidarity with all junior and mid level staff. We know the ship is sinking and yet we still support, encourage and look out for each other as much as we can. There is no careerism. Everyone wants to work, get better, and do a fine job. Decent hands on experience. You’ll have your hands in a wide variety of projects. You can sharpen your skills and pick up new ones if you’re interested in doing it. Paid for idle time. Due to the nature of the contracts and projects the company pursued for profit, sometimes you’ll find yourself with no work to do. Fret not, you’ll be paid for this time. It’s not indefinite but you’ll be covered during the slow times.
Cons
Underpaid: I was doing work typically done by people 1-2 levels above me. Constant job insecurity: The c-suite heavily implies that billable time goals are a major component to being retained. I’ve asked outright if it is, was denied. It’s stressed at every weekly meeting. Lack of productive feedback: I’ve constantly asked what I can do to improve myself, what skills I should pick up, programs to learn, etc.. It was ignored by the execs and higher management people. When it wasn’t I was told that they didn’t know. Disconnect between the staff and higher management: Any suggestions to bring more transparency, worker satisfaction or profits to the division are ignored. I.e. a focus on closing the gender wage gap rather than increasing wages for everyone. If that gap is closed we’re still all underpaid. Lack of short to mid term planning. Everything is pretty much reactive in the day to day, month to month. There is little to no planning beyond how much profit a project brings and can it be done under budget. Luckily there are staff who are wondrous in working in this situation and staff who are learning how to. You get use to it. DSET exces are focusing on new tech and how to carve a niche in the research field. Which is fine and all but it’s done at the expensive of everything else.
8 - 5.0Oct 27, 2023Principal AssociateCurrent Employee, more than 10 yearsCambridge, MA
Pros
Smart staff who are collaborative and care about doing their best work
Cons
It has become more top down in recent years
