Just received a call from LEK London today rescinding their offer to start as a consultant in September 2020 (MBA cohort)... two weeks after confirming the 7th of September start date !
Not sure how this will impact their employer brand’s reputation and what is says about their current economic situation.
Did this happen to anyone else?
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Guess it's largely due to their over-reliance on PE projects. Interested to hear more...
That and I also heard rumors that they took out a large loan right before covid hit and were in a bad financial situation.
Woah, absolutely shocking if true. What was their explanation?
They blamed the economic situation due to Covid 19 without giving any further details.
I’m sorry for you. Tough spot to be in. Hit up your network at other consulting shops to see if any is hiring.
Sorry dude, that is brutal. It is ridiculous that they guaranteed 2021 FT offers for interns but screwed you over for 2020. Did you already get your signing bonus? If so, I'd fight tooth and nail to keep it. Also, if you can, publicitize the shit out of this. People need to know both for current and future decisions. Hang in there!!
I'd be careful with making it something very public. Although it is a poor situation to be in, your next employer will likely not like the fact that you went all out to show what happened.
Good point. I didn't think of that. Perhaps sharing anonymously (like the OP is doing right now) is the way to go.
Friend of mine was supposed to start in the summer as a lateral hire as SAC. I guess perhaps they took a handful of lateral hires, the 2021 intern intake and called it a day based on their financial situation? It's still unfair to cancel on the entire cohort - perhaps delay some to the 2021 intake or something like that. Could also be that LEK over hired in the past months and now needed to drop some people - tougher to fire employees in Europe than to rescind offers. Did they offer any form of guidance/advice/support?
I would probably agree on the interns + lateral hires. I think LEK hires way more undergrads (at least in London) compared to MBA students.
OP, do you know how many people where in your cohort?
Lol the rescinding of MBA offers but automatic conversion of summer interns is easy to explain: that's cause at sweatshops like these they value Analysts / fresh grads more for the simple fact that they can grind them and toss them out before they make it to consultant / manager levels and reiterate the process.
OP I wouldn't worry too much - moved to MBB post LEK and would say the silver lining is you now have time / a shot at recruiting for a real consulting firm...
Well, based on talks with recent hires the sweatshop reputation in Europe has died down quite a bit. And whilst I don't want to start the whole MBA Associate vs Entry Level argument, if they're in a tight spot financially it makes sense to hire 1) cheaper people that you can rapidly train at entry level and 2) lateral hires coming directly from relevant companies which do the same work they do and don't need to be brought up to speed as much. If you're an MBA hire you are expensive and likely need as much training as an Analyst unless you have previously done a lot of CDD-focused consulting. Especially for their life sciences practice where industry knowledge is pretty much paramount.
An LEKer? Hey there mate.
Well reputation is a little anecdotal / subjective - from my ex colleagues I've heard nothing's changed since and so culture / Hours are the same, which is what matters. If you have better info or know of what they've changed I'd be curious to know actually
I second this. moved from LEK to MBB and now am not suicidal
Similar situation, but would not say I was suicidal. My thoughts are if you want to stay in consulting long-term, definitely worth taking a 1-2 year demotion to move from LEK to MBB. If you plan on staying in consulting short-term, not worth moving as you can network to try and get similar opportunities / get to a similar long-term position from LEK as well
My condolences. Have you tried to negotiate at all? Perhaps, offer to join next year? I'm honestly surprised that they are willing to throw away an entire incoming class of talent right there (esp. considering the amount of time/money that these firms invest in recruiting)
Can you DM me?
Does anyone know if similar actions are being taken in the US offices? I've heard of the 3-week unpaid leave but haven't heard anything about hiring (I have an October start date so naturally this is a bit concerning to me)
I'd also like to know if anyone has any insight, as I too have an October start date in the US.
Was on track for a post-MBA position in their London office. Was excited that it might be a path to London. Then they halted MBA hiring. sounds like I dodged a bullet. Sorry to hear some weren’t so lucky. :/
So the OP is the only report I have seen of this online. On Fishbowl, there is actually some dispute about the claim. Apparently it's mainly for people with Visa issues and not all MBA offers in the UK. Also seems to be specific to UK and not other regions. Can anyone else confirm or provide more insight on exactly which offers were rescinded?
It’s very strange, I also looked at fishbowl and it seems some LEKers are denying layoffs, some are claiming there were layoffs, and there was an LEKer saying the firm was finished / cancelled.
Wtf does cancelled even mean!? LEK isn’t some Instagram account I can subscribe / unsubscribe to. But hell, sounds like that place is straight up wild
Same information sought
I think the discrepancy you're seeing on Fishbowl is due to geography. I am pretty sure that the rescinding/layoff is indeed happening in LEK London.
If you go on the /r/consulting subreddit, there's another post there saying that MBA March new-joiners at a London T2, who were previously on furlough, had their offers rescinded.
The dates coincide with what we know about LEK's furloughing and start dates.
EDIT: this was meant as a reply for the people talking about contradicting info on Fishbowl.
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