What do employees say about their employers? We’ve been trawling through Glassdoor to identify some of the top employers in the construction engineering industry.

Every year Glassdoor (the company review and recruiting website) publishes their ‘Best Places To Work’ list. Using metrics supplied by employees and former employees, the 2018 UK list puts Google in the top spot.

But what about companies in the construction and engineering sectors? We’ve crunched the data (albeit not very scientifically) and can now reveal the top 10 UK Construction Engineering Companies for 2018. Based on Glassdoor’s data, these companies have been given an overall ranking out of 5 for their employer brand.

Have you worked for any of the companies listed below? If you’re looking to move jobs within the industry it can be helpful to read reviews like these and shortlist companies that you would like to work for. Then you can research your prospects more thoroughly and get a better understanding of whether you would be a good cultural fit for any potential roles.

As specialist technical recruiters many of the companies listed below are well known to us so if you would like to discuss your career plans and get further support identifying the right companies for you, please get in touch.

10 Construction Engineering Companies Employees Rank Highly

1: Taylor Wimpey 4.3 (and #15 on Glassdoor’s 2018 Great Places To Work UK)

What they say:

“Culturally we pride ourselves in having a diverse work force with an opportunity to grow a career in a variety of environments. We look to develop our people in the skills and areas they are most interested in.”

What employees say:

“Open minded and forward thinking business.”

“Forward thinking and customer focused.”

“Pay and package falls behind direct competitors. Share schemes are fantastic but only benefit if your planning on staying long term; so don’t really balance off against the better pay smaller developers are paying.”

2. BAM 4.1

What they say:

“BAM Construct UK is one of the country’s leading construction contractors and property developers. It also offers facilities management, design consultancy, and electrical installation and fabrication services. The group’s work is split between the public and private sectors, with clients coming from the education, health care, and commercial office and mixed-use markets, among others.”

What employees say:

“Large company that manages to retain a small and community led feel. All staff get on well and the business provides good support for training and growth.”

“Very good company to work for very good pay and management.”

“Poor work life balance (common within industry)”

= 3: Arcadis 4.0

What they say:

“Arcadis differentiates itself through its talented and passionate people and its unique combination of capabilities covering the whole asset life cycle, its deep market sector insights, and its ability to integrate health & safety and sustainability into the design and delivery of solutions across the globe.”

What employees say:

“Freedom to forge your own path and seek out own opportunities.”

“A good salary when you join. Good CPD. Flexible working is offered so you are able to arrive and leave work at different times additionally you are able to work from home as long as work commitments allow.”

“Overly focused on utilisation, sometimes you feel like a number on a spreadsheet.”

= 3. Arup 4.0

What employees say:

“Good work life balance. Good internal training. Good working environment. Good technical knowledge support.”

“Great people, great support, great projects.”

“Low pay compared to competitors. Working beyond normal daily hours with no overtime.”

= 4. NG Bailey 3.9

What they say:

“NG Bailey is the largest independent engineering, construction and services company in the UK. Voted Best Companies ‘one to watch’ three years in a row by our employees. Holding the Investors in People and Investors in Diversity award, people remain at the heart of our business.”

What employees say:

“People are great, an amazing place to work.”

“Organised and well structured company with a can do attitude who are willing to teach apprentices good working practices.”

“Management structures can be restrictive.”

= 4. Skanska UK 3.9

What they say:

“Skanska, one of the UK’s leading contractors, is an inclusive and responsible business that is helping to build for a better society. Known for major projects, such as the Gherkin and Crossrail, we are building, upgrading and maintaining the country’s infrastructure. Drawing on our Scandinavian heritage, we are green, innovative and progressive. We bring together people and technology, as part of our quest to make construction a safer and more collaborative industry.”

What employees say:

“Very good place to work, have a variety of different opportunities available straight from the start and are happy to give you responsibility over projects.”

“Strong values and culture embedded across global business. These are alive and palpable, they are not just words on the wall.”

“Despite the collaborative culture silos exist and best practice and lessons learnt are hard to spread.”

5. Ramboll 3.7

What they say:

“With almost 300 offices in 35 countries, we emphasise local experience combined with a global knowledge-base. We constantly strive to achieve inspiring and exacting solutions that make a genuine difference to our customers, end-users and society as a whole.”

What employees say:

“Warm environment, great colleagues and chances to network.”

“Excellent place for growth and experience.”

“The training program was not very structured.”

= 6. Balfour Beatty 3.6

What they say:

“We finance, design and build the structures that underpin our daily lives. Together we will shape the future of engineering.”

What employees say:

“Balfour Beatty are a great company to work for.”

“Given a lot of responsibility based on your capability so can rapidly progress and get broad range of skills and experience.”

“Low-level courses are readily available but professional development through career-specific training and qualifications is not prioritised. Personal/self-funding is not uncommon.”

= 6. Atkins 3.6

What they say:

“Atkins is one of the world’s most respected design, engineering and project management consultancies.”

What employees say:

“Very good push for graduates to become chartered. Very good support for chartership training. Flexible hours and can work from any offices in the UK.”

“Very flexible and pragmatic with working routine. Working on high profile projects.”

“Salary is not competitive. Progression can be very slow. Does not facilitate movement between groups.”

7. Laing O’Rourke 3.5

What they say:

“At the heart of our drive to challenge and change the construction industry are our people. We believe in employing and developing the very best talent in the industry, challenging them to find and follow a better way and deliver excellence for our clients whilst leaving a lasting legacy for the communities in which we operate.”

What employees say:

“Constant development through training and education when presenting the right skills and devotion, also good salaries!”

“Excellent development opportunities and support networks.”

“Poor work life balance if you don’t push for it.”

Seems like a common criticism is that companies are not paying the market rate, although that suggests that if they’re all paying less than expected they are paying competitive salaries! Check out James’ recent post on salary rates for more on this.

Using Glassdoor To Rank Potential Employers

While reviews are subjective and the ranking above is hardly scientific – companies vary in size, some have under 100 reviews while others have thousands and therefore we are not always comparing like for like – employee reviews do give some useful insight into what a company is like to work for.

You can use Glassdoor to search for specific companies to see how they rank for key factors such as work / life balance; culture and values; senior management; compensation and benefits; and career opportunities.

However, as with any user generated content it’s important to take a balanced view on reviews. Don’t read just one review, read through several and particularly those that relate to your function and department. Also read through the lines! Many disgruntled employees use Glassdoor to express their opinions that may be quite biased.

Another useful tool on Glassdoor is the interviews section that gives a little insight into the interview process at different companies, and the kind of questions candidates have been asked.

If you’re working with a specialist technical recruitment agency to find your next role, don’t forget to speak to them about different employers. Agencies like ourselves have long term relationships with our clients and really understand factors such as culture, career progression and work / life balance. We also get feedback from our candidates throughout the recruitment process, and can therefore provide further insight about interviews and what the company is like as an employer.

Looking for a new technical role? Register your CV here to get started.