Vault’s Verdict

Insiders at NERA’s European offices laud their firm’s supportive and social work culture, with many firm-sponsored activities to bring consultants together. They feel like their senior leaders care about them personally and take the time to give constructive feedback, feel encouraged to take sick leave when necessary, and enjoy lots of day-to-day flexibility. Consultants at NERA can work from home or abroad, although busy times occasionally call for a surge of hours.

Career development and compensation provide two additional points in the firm’s favor. The firm has a transparent promotion process and provides regular internal and external training, with chances to participate in business development early. Pay increases occur regularly, leading to rapid salary progression, and insiders say the firm pays good bonuses and has a competitive pension contribution.

Looking ahead, the firm’s business outlook does face some headwinds from the market in general, but insiders believe its overall outlook is sunny. They have a positive view of their senior leadership and its calm approach to managing the firm and see many exciting projects in the firm’s business pipeline.

Employee Reviews

Firm Culture

• “Generally, a good culture regarding sick leave, in terms of encouraging colleagues to take time off and rest when ill (even if projects are busy).”
• “Good workspace culture: supportive and social. My direct senior directors are thoughtful and good at giving guidance.”

Quality of Life

• “Flexibility as to where we work. Working from home is acceptable, as well as working from abroad. Hours highly variable depending on the project. We are expected to work late and during the weekend when needed.”
• “Very flexible hybrid working. Have never had a leave request rejected. Regularly organized social activities. Hours are occasionally long.”

Career Development

• “Transparent promotion process, straightforward evolution within the company. However, mobility across teams is not so simple.”
• “Meritocratic. Responsive to requests. There is scope to shape your own career.”
• “Pros: Regular internal and external training. Biannual feedback with directors. Early focus on business development. Cons: Experience can vary by team.”

Compensation

• “Very well paid, high bonuses. Transparency within the team on what everybody gets paid and respective bonuses.”
• “Fairly rapid salary progression. Limited transparency about how bonuses are set.”
• “Good bonuses. Regular pay increases. Very good pension scheme.”
• “Program of wellness-related webinars.”

Inclusion

• “Recruitment: many more women in the firm compared to two years ago. Big efforts made on gender balance in the office, even if most partners are still men. Nationalities and ethnicities are very varied, most colleagues are not British, and many are non-white. However, there are still almost no Black colleagues, and LGBTQ+ inclusion is never discussed. There are not any LGBTQ+ groups within the firm.”
• “Speaking in relational to ethnic diversity, the London office is fairly diverse, and I assume this means NERA is good at being willing to sponsor visas. Other than that, there are not really any diversity initiatives (nor do I think that to be necessary).”
• “Nobody is excluded from high-quality work or promotion, but the firm could do more to actively consider barriers to participation and provide additional support.”

Business Outlook

• “The outlook is not very positive, but that’s true market-wide. Our leader is very friendly and calm and a good leader, which provides trust in the company. Most employees and seniors in London are very nice and benevolent. We have very interesting and high-stake projects, and we are well positioned in the market in terms of expertise. However, employee morale is not very high. People and the company think mostly about profit, making money, and looking good for stakeholders.”