Very smart, very greedy, and very untrustworthy - Anonymous employee Boston Consulting Group Employee Review

1.0
Sep 24, 2017
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great people Great place for a younger person to learn (provided you get staffed on the right sort of assignment, which is becoming lower and lower odds)

Cons

Of all the top consulting firms, BCG is by far the most focused on short-term profit per partner at the expense of all else. During the decade I was at BCG, I saw WAY too many decisions that were very bad for clients and non-partner consulting staff that got made to enrich current partners. Very smart people can come up with rationalizations for their actions, but at the end of the day what I saw take place very regularly at BCG was dishonest. As someone who served in leadership roles, was active in the CDC, etc, I still feel very guilty for some of things I was involved in. Every large company has some "bad apples", but at BCG, the "bad apples" gain more and more power because they the ones who are least apt to demonstrate any restraint or remorse for focusing purely on short term profit. The individuals who I saw lie, cheat and steal the most are now in enormous positions of power. I regularly hire consultants now that I'm an industry exec, but I would never hire BCG unless/until the current regime turns over.

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5.0
Jul 2, 2026
Anonymous employee
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CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

One of the best opportunities to accelerate career

Cons

High pressure environment and long hours

3.0
Jul 3, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Education on AI Fluency and access to the latest LLM models. My immediate team who energizes me.

Cons

BCG isn't what it used to be. Former CEO Rich Lesser cared about Innovation about deep IP and expertise, truly about unlocking the human potential that powers us. Current CEO and leadership trickles down commercialization message, everything is about metrics, what's the business impact, how many cases did this work touch, what is the trend. Often times appearing shortsighted. Lots of politics, lots of words, limited action from PA leadership, largely because they are unable to make a decision, going back and forth on priorities; Every MDP wanting to own something, with too many chefs in the kitchen, and not enough true clarity. Incentive metrics are broken, and asked to do more, An innovation unit is not recognized.

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