HED Reviews

HED has lagged similar firms tremendously over the last few years. At the end of 2014, several offices were still on shortened work weeks, and the 401k match had not been returned (suspended in 2008). The general lack of appreciation for support staff is astonishing, especially in the Chicago office.

Its an extremely top heavy company. Lots of "managers" and upper staff but not enough jr staff and doers. If you are a jr or intermediate staff member there is little mentorship, opportunity for growth, and lack of support. You are just there to hit buttons and people are not concerned with learning any of your skill set or knowledge. Hence the large turnover in this experience range. There is a huge generational gap within the company and it still lives in the dark ages with a lot of processes, behind other firms of the same size and type and struggles to compete when it comes to design work and loses talent to better firms. As recently as 2014 the company suffered layoffs and cut hours in a few offices. Typical large A/E firm....tons of politics, poor processes for a company of its size and poor management depending on what office you are in. It says its "TRANSPARENT" by having lots of employee meetings but really its just smoke and mirrors.