Unprofessional, incompetent and strangled by internal processes - IT Systems Architect CGI Employee Review

1.0
Dec 8, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The car park is free. You can get training but have to justify it and ask.

Cons

Once you get in the door, you will discover that you need to interview for any project work. The promotion process also involves a promotion panel. Getting a promotion however is not necessarily a reason to celebrate as they will likely use it as an opportunity to get you to sign new terms and conditions. Pay is very, very bad for technical staff. They don't seem to recognise that as an IT company they need people good at IT. Instead they focus on business people. As for pay-rises, they seem to think that they can shoe-horn people into a normalisation curve which makes any pay-rise a lottery. You could get recommended for promotion but marked as "needs development" for your annual review. Of course even getting "exceeds all performance" will not guarantee a pay increase. You are still at the mercy of the stats. Finally they have imposed a sickness absence policy that ignores significant health issues. You have only 20 days budget to be ill no matter what the cause. If you break a bone and take 15 days off, you only have 5 days for colds for the rest of the year. Exceed that and you will lose pay. Staff are leaving in droves right now so there is a significant brain drain, including people who have been there 10 or more years.

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5.0
Jun 18, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Work life balance, growth, quality

Cons

Less pay compared to market

1.0
Jun 16, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

no specific positives to highlight from my perspective

Cons

I worked at CGI in both India and the USA and observed similar workplace culture concerns across both locations. The only real difference was HR—India HR felt more supportive, while my experience with USA HR was disappointing. My employment ended shortly after maternity leave due to an alleged “lack of projects,” which I experienced as a layoff. I also observed what appeared to be misuse of position by some leaders, including blurred professional boundaries, preferential treatment, and expectations that went beyond normal workplace roles—at times resembling personal-assistant-style demands rather than professional conduct. Surprisingly, I also noticed inconsistent “policies” applied differently to different individuals. In some cases, it felt like the rules changed depending on who you were. When leadership became aware that someone was related to another employee in the organization, it sometimes felt like that person was singled out or targeted rather than treated objectively. Overall, these practices—whether through inconsistent treatment, perceived power misuse, or favoritism—undermine trust, damage workplace culture, and raise serious concerns about fairness and professionalism.

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