How much travel is involved, and how many hours do consultants work?
McKinsey values working on-site with clients, leading to our strategy of locating near clients (we have over 80 locations worldwide), which tends to mitigate travel requirements. But if a client is out of town, three nights a week away from home may be required. Most of our consultants find working side by side with clients highly rewarding as it enables richer relationships and greater impact. McKinsey is sensitive to lifestyle issues—namely, travel, long hours, and weekend work—and the effect these have on personal or family responsibilities and the physical and mental well-being of team members. Many teams and consultants are finding ways of making lifestyle issues a more important part of their work plans. Some initiatives include “Fridays in the office,” team outings, work style agreements limiting team members’ hours per week, more day trips versus overnight stays, and so on. Consultants are given a lot of responsibility for the way they manage their time. Taking work home, exerc
McKinsey values working on-site with clients, leading to our strategy of locating near clients (we have 82 locations worldwide) tends to mitigate travel requirements. But if a client is out of town, three or four nights a week away from home may be required. Most of our consultants find working side-by-side with clients highly rewarding in that it enables our people to have richer relationships and greater impact than they might have otherwise. On average, consultants work 60 hours per week but, of course, hours vary widely depending on the phase of the project. McKinsey is sensitive to lifestyle issues – namely, travel, long hours, and weekend work – and the effect these have on personal or family responsibilities and the physical and mental well being of team members. Many teams and consultants are finding ways of making lifestyle issues a more important part of their work plans. Some initiatives include “Fridays in the office”, team outings, work style agreements limiting team membe
