Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Consulting firms have faced increased employee turnover after layoffs and delayed start dates.</li><li>The industry still sees <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-hired-top-consulting-firms-bcg-mckinsey-pwc-2024-7">high application rates</a>, but its allure has waned for some workers.</li></ul>For one young woman who joined Accenture right out of college, consulting was a crash course in the corporate world. She became a whiz with tools like Excel and <keyword id="19974445" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="tableau" source="keywords">Tableau</keyword> and she learned how to speak to executives. Over her four years at the firm, though,she grew tired of the rote nature of her work. Plus, she said, she was often brought in just to validate a client's own thinking. "A lot of junior consultants don't realize how many of these projects are actually already what I call 'predestined,'" the woman, who requested anonymity to avoid jeopardizing her career prospects, told Business Insider. "There's an end destination, but you kind of have to go through the motions, and that's just super demoralizing for the people on the team." For decades, business students and MBAs looked to consulting because the work was high in pay and prestige. But a tough couple of years in the business, which have included <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/analyst-laid-off-deloitte-happier-work-culture-felt-toxic-2024-9">layoffs</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/college-grad-start-dates-at-consulting-firms-getting-pushed-back-2023-8">delayed start dates</a> for new hires, have pushed some consultants — even some who've been at it a while — to reconsider a business once synonymous with generous expense accounts and stability. <h2>The lure of other industries</h2>The declining appeal of the consulting industry is most evident in the number of employees leaving. Almost every <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salary-of-consultants-accountants-big-4-deloitte-kpmg-ey-pwc-2020-7">major consulting firm</a> has seen more workers leave than join over the last two years, said Jason Saltzman, director of growth at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.livedatatechnologies.com/">Live Data Technologies</a>, whichcollects real-time employment data. And those who have been leaving are more seasoned than those who have left in years past. The tenure of departing consultants has increased by 7% in the last 18 months compared with the average over the prior decade. One perk of consulting was that veterans could often parachute into adjacent industries or perhaps eventually land plum roles with former clients. Now, some departing workers are being lured away by the cachet of the tech industry. Five former consultants told BI that they transitioned to startups or venture capital — after years at majorconsulting firms — in hopes of finding more fulfilling work. But perhaps an even more worrisome trend for consulting companies is that <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/consulting-has-a-gen-z-problem-2024-8">younger consultants</a> are starting to view them as a stepping stone to something better rather than a prestigious lifetime career. "My parents are both entrepreneurs, so I have a deep respect for founders who are taking big risks to bring their ideas to life," Jyothi Vallurupalli, a former <keyword id="19979918" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mckinsey" source="keywords">McKinsey</keyword> consultant who is now an investor at venture firm Lightbank, told BI. "When I was leaving consulting, I realized VC would allow me to partner with passionate founders across various industries from the early days of their journeys, and I saw it as an opportunity to contribute to building something meaningful." After leaving McKinsey in 2023, Ezra <keyword id="23378831" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gershanok" source="keywords">Gershanok</keyword> founded the sublet startup <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://liveohana.ai/?gad_source=1&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjw0t63BhAUEiwA5xP54RdqcZjXkUsYf92_WSBaB-nX6HYA1EY-berHwS54PiNjeadN76JnZhoC4WIQAvD_BwE">Ohana</a>. He's since launched a four-week internship for college students interested in consulting. "When I was an interviewer at McKinsey, one of the pillars that they would hire for was entrepreneurship," Gershanok said. Now, he and his team market these internships to students as a "here's how you could check that box in the interview process." But, he said, many of the interns ultimately want to stay at Ohana or look for other startup jobs. Gorick Ng, a Harvard University career advisor and author of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gorick.com/unspokenrules">"The Unspoken Rules</a>," told BI that he's seen an uptick in the number of students who intern with consulting firms but choose not to return for a full-time role. He said some students would spend the bulk of their undergraduate years angling to land an internship at a big firm — preparing for interviews, attending information sessions, doing coffee chats, and networking with alums — only to learn once they got the internship that the work wasn't for them. Ng said many students soon realize that the thrill of landing a prestigious job often fades. What matters more is whether the work is appealing. "Is this a day-to-day that I would find fulfilling, and is this something that I can really see myself doing long term?'" Ng said. <h2>A rough time for consulting firms</h2>Even consultants who have been at it for a while are leaving the industry. <keyword id="23378830" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="matt-sternberg" source="keywords">Matt Sternberg</keyword> is the COO of Accelerant, a startup that connects insurance underwriting firms to financial institutions. Before joining the company in 2023, <keyword id="23378829" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sternberg" source="keywords">Sternberg</keyword> spent a decade at Boston Consulting Group, a top-tier firm in the industry. He left the firm as a managing director and partner. Sternberg told BI that he's heard from former colleagues — including people who've been a partner longer than he had — who are inquiring about life beyond consulting. That's different from when he left in 2022, when there was a pandemic-fueled boom for consulting work. Now, people are "looking externally" more than they were in previous years, he said. Sternbergsaid that he felt his former industry was cutting staff too deeply in 2023, during what was a "really challenging year" for the business. "I worry they have started to erode their culture," he said, adding that some firms also pulled back on benefits. A recent post on Reddit from someone who wrote that they work for a Big Four consulting firm in London said one reason people might be tempted to give up on the industry is that remote work can make it harder to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/consulting/comments/1es6396/why_are_so_many_young_people_leaving_the/">connect with colleagues</a> — the main thing that made the job bearable, the poster said. "Constantly tapping away from in front of my screen on my kitchen table in a shared flat is more depressing than 1,000 cringe pizza parties," the person wrote. A cutback in perks like flights to client offices and expensed dinners also makes the work less attractive. <h2>Consulting is not the launching pad it used to be</h2>Consulting hasn't lost its allure for everyone, of course. That's clear from the number of applications the big firms receive. A McKinsey spokesperson told BI in July that the firm plans to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-hired-top-consulting-firms-bcg-mckinsey-pwc-2024-7">hire fewer than 1%</a> of those who apply. The company gets about 1 million résumés each year. Ernst &amp; Young received over 4 million applications in the past year and hired about 140,000 people, Irmgard Naudin ten Cate, EY's global talent attraction and acquisition leader, told BI in July. Yet even as many people try to add a big-name firm to their résumé, some outside the industryare these days less interested in attracting erstwhile consultants. Atli <keyword id="23378828" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="thorkelsson" source="keywords">Thorkelsson</keyword>, who helps startups recruit at the venture capital firm Redpoint Ventures, told BI that founders often looked to people with a consulting background for generalist roles, such as a chief of staff or someone who could be a sounding board for a startup CEO who might have agood idea but not a lot of business experience. But lately, Thorkelsson said, he's seeing "less excitement" from founders about workers who have consulting on their résumé than there had been around 2017 to 2018. Even as the industry's pull fades, giving up a lucrative job that can be tough to land isn't necessarily easy. "When I was transitioning out of consulting, consulting was actually still all the rage. It's like high prestige, high pay," the former Accenture consultant said. "That part was scary, to be honest." Do you have something to share about what you're seeing in consulting? Business Insider would like to hear from you. Email our consulting team from a nonwork device at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:deliverable@businessinsider.com">deliverable@businessinsider.com</a> with your story, or ask for one of our reporter's Signal numbers. Correction: September 20, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated the name of the company where Matt Sternberg is COO. It is Accelerant, not Accelant.

How consulting lost its cool

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Gen Z consultants view consulting as a stepping stone, not a long-term career.</li><li>High-pressure work and a lack of passion drive young consultants to seek more fulfilling jobs.</li></ul>As a freshman at Penn State University, Ezra Gershanok was set on <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-hired-top-consulting-firms-bcg-mckinsey-pwc-2024-7">landing a job in consulting</a> after graduation. He joined a consulting club and spent countless hours preparing for interviews.He ended his senior year with three full-time offers, including one at Deloitte in the firm's government and public services sector and one, which he accepted, at <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mckinsey-ai-consulting-focus-future-2024-6">McKinsey &amp; Company</a>."There's not really that many better jobs where you can work on different things, you can travel, you can work with young people, and there's a lot of perks," he told Business Insider. As a college student, the prospect of flying business class, staying at the Ritz Carlton, and, of course, learning from big-name executives in his first job had appeal.However, Gershanok quickly realized that his role wasn't all it was cracked up to be."My first project was working for a utility provider, and we were literally doing nothing," he said. "I was like, there's no problem-solving in this job. It's just babysitting."Within two years, he'd left the firm and launched his venture, a sublet startup called Ohana.Whereas <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/landing-dream-jobs-tech-consulting-banking-are-harder-than-ever-2024-5">consulting</a> was once a dream job for many, Gen Zers are starting to see it as a mere lucrative stepping stone. Four Gen Z consultants told BI they were not in the industry for the long haul. It's a stable job and a shiny badge on their résumés that opens doors for them to pursue their passions.<h2 id="c10b7109-3a20-43e7-b515-1d682b20b510">The missing work-life balance</h2>Vicki Salemi, a career expert for Monster, told BI that because <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mckinsey-consultant-quit-mental-health-shattered-2024-4">consulting can be high-pressure</a> — think 60- to 80-hour weeks — some young workers are questioning whether it's right for them, at least for the long term."There has been a shift in terms of looking at this type of position and thinking, 'What did I sign up for?'" she said, adding, "When you reach that level, there's not a balance. It's typically all work."Salemi, who previously recruited for large consultancies and Big Four accounting firms, said many young people starting their careers are shifting from questions about benefits to focus more on areas like office culture.Yet she doesn't expect the consulting industry will go hungry for workers because of the opportunities the experience can bring. Beyond making contacts with client companies, workers early in their careers can learn from their more experienced colleagues and through offerings like in-house training programs."They may feel like they can give a lot in terms of their output for work, but also get a lot from the internal organizational structures and the immense knowledge that their mentors and bosses may bring to the table," Salemi said.She said the learning opportunities can help some young consultants cope with the long hours and stress of the gig."Some jobs are still high pressure, and that won't change," Salemi said.Gen Z consultants said the hours are worth it as long as they pick up new skills. But after a couple of years on the job, the learning curve tapers, and their work can lose meaning.Jorge García Febles, a senior consultant at Deloitte, told BI, "I guess a lot of people just coast through, but that's not what I'm looking for. I want to feel like I'm actually doing something meaningful."<h2 id="86050a4c-7b01-4656-b79b-9e54a3284a6e">It's a good launchpad, but the passion isn't there</h2>Clouds Joo, a Gen Z <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/day-in-life-consultant-mid-20s-great-job-recent-grad-2024-6">strategy and management consultant</a> at a leading global firm, said she has the ultimate entry-level job: You learn a lot very quickly, there's enough variety never to get bored, and, perhaps most appealing of all, it's an easy industry to leave."Because you are always working in different industries, there's so many great doors in terms of exit opportunities," Clouds, who preferred to go by her nickname for privacy reasons, told BI. "You don't confine yourself to one industry."There's also the prestige of landing at a top <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-consulting-business-demand-is-rough-right-now-2024-3">consulting firm</a> — something that does not go unnoticed or unappreciated by the social media generation.A Gen Z consultant at PwC said he thinks the job is ideal for grads who don't know what they want to do because it's a good way to pick up many generalist skills. But the consultant, who asked not to be named because his employer didn't authorize him to speak to the press, said it's not work he is passionate about.He thinks some longtime consultants he works with simply got comfortable in their jobs and gave up on their other ambitions and passions. To avoid that, he plans to leave consulting to do work that he feels is more impactful and in an industry he cares about.He said he's passionate about working out and healthy eating, so he might move on from consulting to working in public health, fitness, or nutrition."Consulting is not a passion industry," he said. "Some people genuinely love consulting. I think they're freaks."Some young consultants say that at some point, they have to gamble between staying at a job that offers prestige and some security and finding purpose in their careers.Gershanok said he was <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mckinsey-consultant-layoffs-firing-over-hiring-client-demand-2024-4">pushed out of McKinsey</a> earlier than expected because the firm had overhired. However, he said he always planned to become an entrepreneur. The McKinsey brand on his résumé made it easier to raise funding for his startup, which has won the backing of big names like Zillow's cofounder and former CEO, Spencer Rascoff, and Airbnb's former director of engineering, Surabhi Gupta."In the consulting world, you have security. The brand is good, but your job is meaningless. At least in my experience, it was meaningless," he said. Now that he's running a startup, he has "a mission."

Consulting has a Gen Z problem

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Ezra Gershanok was a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mckinsey-burnout-quit-elitist-consulting-lifestyle-2023-8">business analyst at McKinsey &amp; Company</a>. </li><li>He says he was forced out as the firm grappled with declining client demand and too many hires.</li></ul>This is an as-told-to conversation with Ezra Gershanok, a former business analyst at McKinsey &amp; Company who's a cofounder of the sublet startup Ohana.Long story short, I don't regret my time at McKinsey &amp; Company.I was hired straight out of college as a business analyst, an entry-level <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/consultant-analyst-guide-common-corporate-job-titles-project-manager-2024-1">consultant role</a> at the firm. I'm glad I had the opportunity, and I appreciated the firm's high expectations and learned a lot from my colleagues.However, several aspects of my job frustrated me.There was an expectation that everything needed to be done immediately. I felt a constant sense of urgency even though we weren't building anything. My work output was always a PowerPoint deck, and its biggest impact was making whoever paid for us to be there look good.In such an environment, you quickly realize that everything is political. Your ability to get on good projects, and even your performance goals, boil down to how well-liked you are by colleagues. Everyone at the firm can do the work so well that the higher-ups ultimately build teams of people they like working with.<h2>The firm had clearly over-hired</h2>My biggest issue was that McKinsey over-predicted how much work I would have.I started at the firm in June 2021 as one among a class of pandemic hires. I left in March 2023.During that time, McKinsey secured many government and private-sector contracts and hired extensively, assuming there would be a steady workflow. Then, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-do-interest-rate-hikes-impact-housing-market-rent-mortgages-2024-3">interest rates started rising</a>, companies started tightening their budgets, and several realized they could automate much of their work. So, client demand began to dry up.For me, the pace of the work started to slow down in the second half of 2021 and into 2022. Several jobs at the firm started to be seen as redundant. The pressure to cut down the workforce was palpable.McKinsey doesn't normally conduct layoffs. Instead, they push employees out by marking them down on performance. But the communication channels aren't clear when you're an entry-level employee. So, it's possible to get positive feedback from the clients you're working with and your direct manager, even when the higher-ups are trying to push you out.And that's not a pleasant experience.<h2>It would have been easier if they just laid me off</h2>I remember getting a call in mid-February 2023. Things had gone pretty well on the project I was working on that week, which was on semiconductors and pretty competitive to get staffed on. On Saturday, I got a call out of the blue from an associate partner who told me I was no longer on the project, even though I was supposed to go to Seattle that Monday to continue work. I received another call on Sunday and was told to talk to my senior partner because there was some hope I could get back on the project. But he flat-out said there was no way I was getting back on the project.I had a meeting put on my calendar a week later and was told that senior managers would be present at the meeting to decide my fate at the firm. In the days leading up to the meeting, I kept receiving warnings that it wouldn't go well and that I was better off just quitting. I told them that I refused to quit before going through with the meeting.At the meeting, they complained about my performance, even though it was clear that the real reason they wanted me out was because the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/management-consulting-firm-mckinsey-plans-to-cut-jobs-reports-2023-2">firm had over-hired</a>. It would have been easier if they said, "We're letting you go" or "We're firing you." Instead, they told me that the senior partners had met and decided that my next step was "search." I'd be paid for six weeks and given a guidance counselor who would help me <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mckinsey-offering-staff-pay-career-coaching-if-they-leave-firm-2024-4">look for another role</a>.I could have fought it, but I was pretty frustrated with my work by then. My biggest gripe is that McKinsey preys on people who are status-insecure. Everyone the firm hires is an overachiever. We want to do well, and what people care more about than money, honestly, is the gratification of our bosses.<h2>Life after McKinsey</h2>By then I was already thinking about solving this other problem I had experienced as an intern — the struggle of subletting. So my good friend, who was working at Apple at the time, quit his job, and we both hit the ground running, building a new startup called Ohana.Ohana fills the gap between short-term rental platforms like Airbnb and long-term housing sites like Zillow. We provide an efficient way to sublease in NYC. We've found that the average host on Ohana saves $5,969 per sublease, and in the last month, Ohana has saved New Yorkers over $238,000 in rent. We've also brought on some heavy-weight backers, including Zillow's cofounder and former CEO, Spencer Rascoff, and Airbnb's former director of engineering, Surabhi Gupta.I'm passionate about the work I'm doing now. Looking back, the irony of my time at McKinsey is that they're constantly giving right-sizing advice to their clients but completely miss the mark themselves.Are you a consultant in a tough work environment? We would like to hear from you. Contact the reporter Lakshmi Varanasi at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:lvaranasi@businessinsider.com">lvaranasi@businessinsider.com</a>.

You Searched For "gershanok" and got 3 results

How consulting lost its cool

Lakshmi Varanasi,Tim Paradis,…

Consulting has a Gen Z problem

Kelsey Vlamis,Lakshmi Varanas…

I was a consultant at McKinsey. Here's the frustrating way they pushed me out.

Lakshmi Varanasi

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides