I joined Slalom just over 3 years ago when the Toronto office was still new and the organization was very entrepreneurial. Back then, the company felt like a dream - small family-style team, everyone got along and respected each other, leadership listened and made changes. Once Slalom Toronto broke even profit-wise about 1.5 years ago, however, the company took a sharp negative downturn and is only getting worse with each passing week. Recruiting took a nosedive and now hires virtually anyone with a pulse. Leadership is focused purely on sales to hit their numbers and get their big bonuses, and there is no longer any care about lower employees on the hierarchy. Promotion is entirely based on perceptions - if you suck up to the leadership and parrot their false smiles constantly, you get promoted regardless of merit. Conversely, delivery or technical excellence is no longer a concern. Projects have become chaotic, filled with poor-performing practitioners, and stacked with expensive leaders billing but not contributing. Additionally, projects are no longer interesting - the focus has become to sell anything, rather than selling interesting and fulfilling pieces of work. The local consulting team is slowly getting phased out, with everyone focusing on selling developer (Build/XM) projects or augmenting their offerings. Finally, even the culture has hollowed out - Slalom Toronto no longer lives by the company's core values and just parrots meaningless platitudes around to each other in an echo chamber.
My advice for those looking to join would be to understand if you're looking for fulfilling work and career progression, or if you're looking for a shallow superficial "happy" place to work. Slalom will not provide any meaningful fulfillment. Caveat Emptor.
