Great until it wasn't - Project Director WillowTree Employee Review

2.0
10 Aug 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Loved the structure of having dedicated teams who had space to create amazing work. Everyone was very nice and smart - great to work with!

Cons

Like most of the other comments the acquisition really changed things. I even asked in my interview how they were planning on handling the upcoming recession we could all see coming a mile away. They boasted about how they didn't let anyone go in the pandemic and how the CEO didn't take a salary for a year....so when things weren't looking great financially after the acquisition, they weren't transparent about it or at least how bad it really was and made no effort to strip things like benefits, the intern program, swag, free lunches, etc. before cutting 120+ employees. The act of it was shocking but the delivery of it was very shocking to folks as well. I don't fault them for how it was done because that's never easy but I am shocked they didn't do more to prevent having to lay people off. Things in the last couple of months just felt very off brand for the empathetic environment that was sold to me when joining.

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WillowTree Response
2y
I completely understand how the layoff felt. It was brutal and the last thing we wanted to do, but we had to accept the reality of the market situation. As painful as it was, we are through it now and the second half of the year is looking much more stable. - TD

Explore other reviews about WillowTree

5.0
29 May 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great opportunity, take hirevue seriously

Cons

No cons, love this internship

3.0
29 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Lots of really nice, and smart people who are very collaborative and excited to share their knowledge. This is not a prestigious place to work, so I was a bit surprised by just how smart and competent people are at WillowTree or TELUS Digital, whatever our name is. The offices are great and the office culture is ridiculously good. Huge shoutout to the employees (it's def not upper management) who go out of their way to make the office culture great. Depending on what project you're on, it can be a pretty chill place to work. If you're early in your career and need experience, the variety of projects makes this a genuinely good opportunity.

Cons

The biggest con is the compensation. It's so terrible, and far below the industry standard that I don't really see how anyone could stay here long term. They don't give raises, no one is getting promotions. There's also quite a lot of restructuring going on, and very poor communication about it. Which is par for the course in the tech industry at this point, but worth noting. It feels relatively stable for now, but I really have trouble seeing how their tech services division is going to survive as AI decreases the cost to build software. Plus, tech services as part of TELUS Digital doesn't really make any sense long term. It's a contact center business with a bunch of people that randomly make expensive mobile apps? It seems to be making enough money for now to keep going, but I feel like that could change any moment.

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