Firing at MBB
Can confirm it’s happening in large Asia offices across B, is it true across other geographies/MB as well?
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Define firing. Counsel-outs are more common now, with maybe some greater liberties taken on performance assessments. Would be surprised if Bain or BCG were doing RIFs for consulting staff.
Obviously, they won't do direct firing(at least call it that), that will leave an indelible mark on their reputation. However, if you're cutting ~15%-20% of your staff in ~ 6 months(with no hiring to fill up the open positions), in the garb of PIP, counsel out/transition, it's just a matter of semantics, you can call it whatever you want, it's 'RIF'.I personally know of the following examples -
2.A consultant with a 3 and upward rating being put on PIP and then not given a project to showcase/improve performance, was rather asked to 'accept' the transition of 3 months and move out.
P.S. I come from the same B that you come from.
P.P.S. All of this is happening in a large Asia office in the subcontinent of the concerned B
Bain too here, but in London though. Things have definitely been tough lately, but at far as I know, there does not seem to have been a significant increase of PIPs here. I dont know everyone, and not everyone in that situation mentions it, of course, but I know more than enough people that I feel I would have heard something if it had gone up substantially (also I would notice a reduction of 50-100 people given our AC/SAC/C cohort sizes here and the figures you mention).
Really sorry to hear whats happening in India (guessing that's your geo since you mentioned "Asia" and "subcontinent"). I hope things will improve over there.
For what it's worth if you want to get a pulse check on MBB, WSO will be less than helpful. People like us, who are at MBB, are a minority here. Most people here are applicants / students. Fishbowl would be your best bet for that type of info. And over there, apparently BCG was the one doing this most aggressively in recent weeks.
Didn't know you were talking about our firm, was assuming BCG since things have been worse there globally (and they have a famously bad culture in India). Sorry to hear that this is how they are handling things - this seems very unprofessional and inconsistent with our standards globally. I'm familiar with our Asia offices and think India grew too aggressively, especially by acquiring other firms and tapping into the lateral market. I would imagine the cuts are adjusting for the overhiring, but also success rates for laterals are usually low (especially for SMs and above).
Not saying that this makes this any better, but helpful context for those not at Bain as this is a public forum.
Thank you so much for your thoughts. I agree with your take - India office did expand recklessly last year hiring people in droves and now paying the price (unfortunately it’s the lateral employees and incoming ACs who are paying the price*). I just wanted to understand if the same scenario played across geographies/MBcg - from your responses it doesn’t seem that way.
Given our most important ethos of always being true north, I thought it was worthwhile to bring this issue in limelight globally (a lot of measures are taken to suppress these things locally). Thanks for the advice to bring this up on fishbowl - will do the same - however, I thought it would be useful information for incoming ACs/prospective employees to understand the firm better.
I wish things improve soon and feel elated to see global Bain maintaining true to its mantra of not letting another Bainee fail - even if it’s not true across local offices right now.
*- The joining dates for the incoming batch of ACs have been postponed until next year in some cases.
We specifically mentioned that BCG had been undergoing a similar journey, but across their entire business (it seems, given what was on Fishbowl, or at least in NA), whereby they overhired and are now having to review those numbers down.
If you do want to bring this issue up globally, WSO is not the place to do that. There is the WWES (which went out a few months back) and other formal (inc. anonymous) feedback channels if you perceive that something is going on in your office that runs contrary to our core beliefs.
I'm in general agreement with the sentiment of more transparency is better, but I wouldn't use the language you are using (this is not exacly the Wirecard scandal).
I appreciate your trying to help future applicants. Not everything is rosy at Bain of course, but don't forget: (a) we are a profit-driven business first and foremost and (b) different offices/regions do operate virtually independently from the rest by design. One need only look at the scandal in South Africa to see just how far afield individual offices can go.
It sucks that you guys have to bear the consequences of overl optimistic business plans. I am sorry about that, and again, I hope the broader business environment improves such that this can be avoided.
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