Kohn Pedersen Fox Reviews

Pros

Very friendly, reasonable and helpful co-workers.

Cons

Salary is low, but this is more of an industry issue.

Pros

I’ve been at KPF about a year and a half - my experience here so far has been very comfortable. Very few long days (I usually leave right at 6), decent salary by industry standards, and pretty sane management (at least the people I’ve encountered). I would caveat this review by saying it’s a big office, and I’ve only gotten to meet / work with a fraction of management - for all I know, people on other teams could have it worse. That said, if you didn’t like your boss or your project here, I think there would be room to change teams and choose your own adventure. Another thing I like about KPF is that so much of the company is clustered in NYC - it gives you great access to the entire company and all the projects, compared to being in a branch office of a large firm based somewhere else.

Cons

While work life balance isn’t terrible, I definitely want to see more from KPF! They had these wellness half days twice a month and recently halved their frequency - I understand the need to balance the books, but I’d like to see us moving in the other direction. Being one of the biggest and best should mean we’re an industry leader in employee wellbeing. My second critique is that the design here often bores me. Some of this comes from clients but a lot comes from a strong “just do what worked for us before” impulse within KPF leadership that stifles any “edgier” ideas.

Pros

Wide exposure to projects The hours arent as bad as other firms of its caliber

Cons

- Slug like grind up the ladder, absolutely zero clarity on when or if you're getting promoted until the day of - Slowly phasing out all the great perks they started over the pandemic - Below average pay

Pros

Great place to be. Great people.

Cons

None for con. More opportunities

Pros

Cooperative, almost no overtime work, very high efficiency

Cons

Not many licenses for Enscape

Pros

Great mentors, rare projects, great working space

Cons

A little face paced at times

Pros

Good work and life balance

Cons

Different project team might have very different career path

Pros

Diversity of work and people.

Cons

Office space can be improved.

Pros

creative environment, great technology software and hardware

Cons

need more support staff on teams

Pros

You get paid well starting off, it's "studio" style so you can pave your own path to a certain degree. If you can find good people to follow under, you can enjoy it.

Cons

Raises and promotions internally are difficult,they don't even clearly tell you how it's possible. Most people get 2-3% raises per year so you end up earning less than your peers after 2-3 years due to inflation. Despite 60hr work weeks being standard, leadership still believes people aren't "working enough" and requires increasingly days of being in office to watch over us. Honestly over time the lack of appreciation or sense of community becomes exhausting.