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Forethought Research

Engaged Employer

Toxic Culture Run Like a Dictatorship - Analyst Forethought Research Employee Review

1.0
May 19, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You might be able to meet some great colleagues and that's it.

Cons

Honestly, this is the most toxic workplace culture I’ve ever experienced. There’s no real leadership, no structure, no support whatsoever, and no professional development. When people ask for help, it gets ignored. There’s no meaningful feedback, no meaningful review despite the contract outlines, and no real accountability. It feels like the whole place is run on ego, politics, and fear rather than any actual professionalism. The nepotism for this size of a business is actually ridiculously insane. Exec appointments seem to be made through personal connection, while merit, capability, and experience are ignored. Child company leadership clearly lack the skills/knowledge needed for their roles, yet still carry the biggest egos in the room because she's a nepo baby. Instead of actually leading, they micromanage everything, act like dictators, and very emotionally manipulative. Absolutely bullies. The whole thing feels less like a serious business and more like a private power structure. Decisions aren’t based on skill, science, evidence, or good judgement - they’re based on control, nepotism, and who has power. The founders are emotionally unstable, and deeply unprofessional. You would be surprised how you are treated and how you were spoken to. They may also pressure you to sign questionable documents that are presented as routine paperwork, but appear to be more about protecting the company than being fair or transparent. It is dodgy, one-sided, and not worth the risk so you literally have to read through every line that you are signing. Absolutely disgusting behaviour for not treating people the right way.

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Forethought Research Response
2w
We’re sorry to hear about your experience and appreciate you taking the time to share your perspective. We take workplace concerns seriously and are committed to fostering a respectful environment and ongoing development for our team. Forethought has supported many graduates in their careers, and we’re proud that numerous people have gone on to senior leadership roles after starting with us. We recognise, however, that no workplace is the same for everyone, and we continue to listen, learn, and improve.

Explore other reviews about Forethought Research

5.0
Sep 21, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Having come from two years at a large management consulting firm, Forethought immediately provided exposure to wider project scope, responsibility and the most senior of clients at admirable brands. I have found the opportunities for growth at Forethought far exceeded those Accenture presented. Furthermore, working alongside some extremely intelligent and motivated colleagues and clients has stretched and challenged me, ultimately resulting in my professional and personal growth. Forethought has facilitated my ongoing career goals and enabled me to move first to Melbourne and later onto New York.

Cons

I see truth in some of the feedback colleagues have posted on here but would propose to others to consider that this sample is not a robust, nor entirely accurate of the population (stats pun intended). I see evidence of recent positive and proactive efforts to improve the workplace based on some of this feedback and feedback from existing colleagues. Consulting is a challenging career path, regardless of which firm you work for. Ensuring you're taking every opportunity presented to you and learning to work within the challenges will make you a better consultant.

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Forethought Research Response
7y
We understand that this feedback is over a year now; however, we wanted to provide an update as to how far the firm has progressed since. The feedback received was confronting, but we are also thankful for it. It has helped us to focus our energies on the things that make our business great – our people. This focus has been an ongoing effort, not only considering what has been said in these reviews, but also reaching out to all our current Colleagues through engagement surveys, one on ones and action groups. We have been working hard to make our business a great place to be. Examples of initiatives include a very active Forehealth program, looking at health and wellbeing, a review of our technology and processes and the implementation of a management team that encourages open and candid feedback and acts on that feedback for the benefit of all Colleagues. We are pleased that this effort was noticed last year and recognise that a transformation doesn't happen overnight. We have had a continued focus on ensuring we take care of our people and feel that this is really seeing positive results. We hope that our Colleagues feel the same.
4.0
Nov 2, 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

A real growth environment and therefore there was constant opportunity. Team felt like family and are very supportive, Networking is useful, but management very is approachable and want to help you. They hire really smart people, mostly with postgrad qualifications such as masters or PhDs so if you’re keen to learn or if you’re unsure of something, you’ll have no shortage of teachers. Overall great experience, I’m very satisfied. They are incredibly supportive of employees taking maternity and paternity leave. There is an initiative called ‘forethought mums’ that’s all about being understanding and laying down the foundations to return happy and healthy to work. This creates a very cute community.

Cons

Can be long hours at times, but not as bad as others I've heard of. Email load at times can be pretty intense. Members of I.T are arrogant and not very approachable. The feeling is like they think everyone outside of IT is inept. Even ran a company master class on how to use an iPhone. Please. The ‘culture’ seems to get a bad rap but all I’ve ever experienced is pretty normal stuff. Can be a high-pressure environment, which can be hard on some, but motivating for others, just depends of the person.

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