Good company for consultants that don't want to travel - Anonymous Slalom Employee Review

3.0
6 Feb 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Senior (Seattle/National) leadership cares about creating a great company. As a billable consultant, you will most likely be assigned a local client. Salaries are competitive+. Smart people who focus on delighting the client will thrive. You will be allowed work-life balance provided you don't want to grow into leadership. There is currently a big emphasis on empowering and promoting women in a male-dominated industry. The senior leadership is approachable and inclusive. There are a lot of really great, caring people at Slalom, and some very smart ones too. Financially, the company is stable and is big enough to weather ups and downs - if you are competent, you will have job security. The company spends a lot of money promoting culture and their brand as a good place to work.

Cons

Slalom prioritizes hiring from big consultancies, in particular Accenture and Deloitte. Two effects of this are that they frequently hire for that culture fit vs. competence; and there are a lot of fair-to-middling Big-X consultants that get managed out of those firms that land at Slalom. A lot of the work is staff augmentation, non-strategic. Getting people billable takes precedent over meaningful work. Senior leadership is overwhelmingly from Accenture/Deloitte/EY etc., so if you are not from one of those firms you will most likely cap out if you want a career vs. a job. Slalom preaches diversity and inclusion from a background perspective, but currently their diversity initiatives are "for Women." Most Slalom leaders expect you to buy into the Slalom Kool-Aid, so if you are looking for cool work but not a religious experience, your career path will be hindered. Over the last 24 months, it felt like priority had shifted away from being the best consulting firm in the world to a quest to expand internationally and hit $1B in revenue, and if things have to be sacrificed to get there, so be it. Oh - and benefits are far below industry average. 7 holidays, and 2 weeks leave which is inclusive of sick, vacation, whatever you need it for. Recruiting will dazzle you with alternative models and funny math. It often feels like you are working for a cheap accountant (for example, new consultants often get recycled laptops that are years into their depreciation cycle). In summary - if you are an ex-Big X consultant that doesn't want to travel, it's a great place. If you are from a niche tech firm, industry, etc., you will most likely find it very hard to advance beyond jr. leadership.

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Slalom Response
11y
This is John Tobin - Thanks for your thoughtful review. I appreciate the feedback especially about how going Global and being a $1B company seem to be more of the important driving forces at Slalom. We are going Global and we will obtain more financial growth, no doubt, but if this is all people are hearing, I want to really examine that. Our culture and core values got us where we are and these are paramount in any future that awaits us. Also - agree on the diversity front. It should not just be about females and female leadership. That is where we started, but we pivoted to an overall Inclusion focus with broader diversity (especially in our leaders) being a part of that. I admit, we have a long way to go here and what I can say is that we are taking this serious. Thanks again for your comments, if you ever wanted to share more, feel free to email me directly at johnt@slalom.com or if you wanted to share more anonymously you can send feedback to feedback@slalom.com.

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5.0
18 May 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Strong local client base, collaborative team culture, good learning opportunities, and career growth.

Cons

Need to adjust quickly to different clients, tools, and expectations.

2.0
11 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

•There is an impressive budget, especially for high-level events, ancillary experiences, client giveaways, and premium swag. Management does not hesitate to fund top-notch brand experiences when needed. •The company offers a highly competitive benefits and perks package that remains a strong selling point.

Cons

•The "fiercely human" core value does not match daily operations. Collaboration is routinely replaced by a self-service model of training videos and help articles. •These recurring shifts are designed to manufacture the appearance of fiscal stability for the benefit of external stakeholders and clients, while leaving core operational deficits unaddressed. •Organizational maturity is low. Teams operate in deep silos, the internal tech stack is outdated, and there is a distinct lack of adequate project and event management software.

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