Consulting Discussions
Utilization Rate

Negative Performance Review stories? When you didn’t meet utilization targets or other metrics. What happened?

This was supposed to be the first year EY implemented a firm-wide mid-year bonus which would have been paid in January. Curious if other firms have a mid year bonus (based on their fiscal year) and if so, what have the amounts been historically? Select high performers with high utilization will still receive a little something this year similar to prior years (only ~$5k-10k tho).

A&M fishes - what’s the average utilization in TAG? Knowing obviously you make more as you charge more and also you don’t need 100% to make big bucks… Just more curious about if you have autonomy in the hours you like to put in.

I joined Big4 tax (International) few months ago; and I’ve worked on a couple of projects but minor. I avg. around 5-20 hours/week for billable/external work depending on the week. I keep asking for work from other teams too, but everyone says they will give work but nothing so far. They say work is slow for the moment. I’m mainly worked with one team on a couple of small projects & got good reviews. My utilization is probably around 10-30%. What do I do? I don’t want to be left behind others.

Does anyone have advice on how to balance firm responsibilities/connectivity when on client site full time? I’m fully billable for a government client, on site full time, but am at the middle ground/SC level where I have growing company responsibilities, but still a high utilization requirement. I am not allowed to access my firm system on client site, and things are falling through the cracks. Any advice would be very appreciated.

How is your utilization, are you reaching.your targets? Are what are th consequences of missing them in this environment?

A&M folks, I read that your bonus typically makes up 50% of your comp based on business and utilization. What does that bonus look like for average performers who have 100% utilization last year or two?

Do you think it’s fair for manager to assign you projects and then log off for most of the day? I can tell that some things he could accomplish by himself. I can also see our utilization and mine is much higher. Sometimes I do not want to help them just because I think they are lazy or just taking advantage of me. Or should I just stick to the traditional hierarchy and put my head down and not question my manager’s schedule?

For people that started recently, what is your utilization looking like? I joined in September and have 24% utilization. I have been staffed on 4 deals that all died within a week and it’s been pretty frustrating

How important is it in your opinion to get the To and CC lines correct in emails? I honestly have never utilized them properly for most of my career, but recently joined a new firm where I've gotten feedback to fix them so it's a surprise to me. I'm used to just putting everyone in the To field

EY's average utilization for FDD folks are 50%.. how's other firms doing?

In developing a new PM department within a small Pharma company a colleague and I are trying to determine the best PM software/program to utilize. For reference we are steering away from MS Project and currently looking into Smartsheets. Does anyone have any other recommendations for a program they found useful? We want to have a dashboard that collates information from cross functional teams but, that can simultaneously be utilized for the individual teams. Tracking milestones, risks,budget...

Transferred offices in October, how do I handle Secretary/Assistant holiday gifts?

My previous secretary still does all of my reimbursements/travel (don’t ask for help with anything else) and will until the new year, but my new secretary has made a clear effort to be available (even though I haven’t utilized her at all).

Should I be gifting both the standard class year gift?

My engagement is being changed to other than my core areas for utilization of team purpose. They already did this once and i dint like the work ive been doing. Is it common for others as well ?

How's your utilization?
I've been placed on deals but randomly they get slow, client doesn't upload or I'm told to be mindful of my billing when I am on a deal.
Is this an issue for anyone else?

I’m a strong performer with happy clients and high utilization but I never submit my time on time. Hoping it doesn’t affect my rating and bonus.

Timeline of my new job and I appreciate folks thoughts (started in March):
March - May - Super busy , 100% utilization felt like I was thrown into the fire 🔥. July - receive a 20% raise and 10% bonus September - Now - been dead they’ve been on us about asking for more work but nothing to do. Recently I was told What I would be working on but that’s in January . performance reviews have been good to mediocre. Do I need to 🥶

How is it at other firms? I like Audit for the most part but I’m kind of over my firm. My clients suck and they’re way under billed so my job realization is garbage. Then I’m getting hounded on utilization so if I eat hours my realization is better but then it looks like I’m not doing the work. I’m only a senior and don’t understand why this is my problem. But I’m so over the budget talks. I’m a high performer so I’m not getting these talks bc the work is lacking. It’s pressure coming down

How did you process the emotions after being rolled off for the first time? I just got the news because there’s not enough work for me. Is it normal to feel a bit…abandoned? My utilization is over 100%, so I’m not too concerned, and I could use some downtime with friends and family. But it still feels kind of suck to be let go for whatever reason.

Does utilization matter at the Senior Manager or Manager level?

Hi, I’m currently working as a paralegal for a bank and I am bored. Everything is so monotonous and slow, I feel under-utilized. The only time I am excited about work is when I’m helping the AML advisory team with requests so naturally I’ve developed an interest in AML especially DeFi and Crypto assets. I know it’s an emerging industry so I’d be happy to work in traditional AML for a fund or another bank.
Would love to hear from people who left the legal field for compliance work.

Hi all,
Planning to pitch for a Manager promotion in the June cycle

Wanted to understand what are the prerequisites that would be expected.
Currently I'm SA2, Joined last year in November, Rating in last review was tier 2, mid year snapshots (qty 3) have been 4 and 5s and Current utilization is 95%,

Basically atleast from my end, what should I be doing so as to not give them any reason to not promote 😅

Y’all just a quick vent - I am 10 weeks 4 days and just really f*cking tired of being tired and nauseous. Work is like pulling teeth right now with a difficult client and a director/partner who aren’t respecting boundaries particularly well with some utilization BS on top of it. I have anxiety and ADHD just normally and this is our first child (but second pregnancy after one miscarriage earlier this year). Just uuugggghhhhh. Tips for coping appreciated.

Fellow new-hire LL.M. Associates - do you feel like you are being criminally underutilized (not like your Utilization metric) relative to your skill set? I feel like a high schooler could do this job and I went to eight years of university. Managers and above - does it get better? I’m thinking of lateraling to a law firm if I’m just going to be moving documents around and copy/pasting into PowerPoint decks

Is there a way to check utilization for yourself? If yes, then where?

For unlimited PTO does utilization start all over again in the new year? Wondering if I should take Christmas week off or not?

My utilization is less than 50% . Have joined 2 months back. Is there an issue

My utilization is less than 50% . Have joined 2 months back. Is there an issue

As a first year associate (A2) what should my utilization be at the end of the year? I’m looking at finishing with ~75% if I’m fully staffed the rest of the year.

Had a fight with my MD or let's say more like argument. After that the next 2 months was endless nitpicking and pulling me for mistakes that aren't really in my control.

Post 3 months, I apply for a transfer. Transfer process delayed for some process reasons
No negatives/issues in my f22 feedback. Utilization above target. Way Above average
Recently fired without reason
Who should I escalate to?

PS: Ignore typos. Written in anger

Has anyone ever worked at an agency in which the project management department was properly utilized? I traditionally was brought up in my career where PM type tasks were handled by lower level AMs. I have observed separating AM and PM tasks into two separate departments just causes communication issues and lazy account people. Account people should have a good understanding of how much effort and time goes into a project. Project Managers are missing a lot of context so blind leading blind.

A&M folk, how does project staffing work within the PEPI group and what has been your avg utilization during your tenure?

I am working my ass off for this weekend but kinda like it because my utilization rate is going up....

Am i underpaid? Product Manager. Southeast region. 8 yoe, combo of consulting and industry. Education: EE and MBA.

130k base, 8% bonus (variable based on utilization)