Orbitz Worldwide Reviews

Pros

Orbtiz is a community! I have only been here a short time but feel like I have been here for years. Coming from the financial services and insurance industries, Orbitz is a refreshing change of pace. The mentality here is work hard, play hard. During the workday, things are busy and there is always more that can be done. However, Orbitz rewards its employees with outings, karaoke, contests...it's definitely a fun time! Additionally, they are very supportive of a work/life balance. I never feel stressed about taking a day off or working from home if I'm not feeling well. Taking normal time off is not "taboo" here unlike in other places I have worked. Overall I am looking forward to the opportunities ahead at Orbitz and love my job. It's a great place to work!

Cons

The salary for my job is slightly lower than comparable jobs with my former employers (which were larger corporations). However, I do feel the gap is somewhat offset by benefits including a company-wide week off between Christmas and New Years, solid paid time off and generous insurance benefits. Additionally, the jeans/casual dress code is a money saver for women, as only one wardrobe is necessary (no more separation of work/weekend clothes).

Pros

It's easier to look forward to going to work when you know that you'll be challenged, you'll learn something new, and you'll work with incredibly competent colleagues. Working with current industry standard technologies and tools is a joy! Having a good work-life balance is quite doable here.

Cons

Paid time off seems to be on the low end for technology organizations.

Pros

We have cutting edge development opportunities in a positive work environment. It's great to work around such professional, intelligent, and talented people. Senior management has it's priorities in order and is good at communicating that to all employees.

Cons

Work hours are sometimes very long. The "high performance" culture does demand alot of it's workers but it results in a good sense of satisfaction when the job is complete.

Pros

The possibilities for career, professional, and personal growth at Orbitz are limitless. Hard work and intelligence are quickly rewarded. Personally this has given me the opportunity to work with a group of people that I am proud to call my peers and learn a tremendous amount in the process.

Cons

In order to become an expert at Orbitz you often have to learn not one but several tools that accomplish the same thing. While this does offer personal benefits down the road it means that there can be a steep learning curve when you get started.

Advice to Senior Management

Orbitz is a great organization and is very flat. In some cases this has resulted in group mentality that slows down decision making. Sometimes a decision needs to be made and a direction needs to be taken instead of hearing from all possible alternatives before beginning the work.

Pros

- Great work life balance
- Ability to work from home at anytime and from anywhere is a great plus.
- Amazing group of people with a great attitude.
- No one looking at you if you come late or leave early, everybody mind his business as long as you are doing your job and performing well.
- Ping pong and fuzzball table are a great way to get a break.
- Free coffee and fruits and soda.
- Company wide and team activities and events outside of work.
- This is a great place and I am blessed to be working there.

Cons

- The only issue if you let yourself stay in the same team for a long time you might get out of date on different technologies.
- You always need to make sure to switch teams every couple of years so that you learn new things since teams tend to be a little static in their technologies.
- Wish the bonus was a little bit higher.

Advice to Senior Management

- Keep focusing on new ideas and promotions to catch up with our competitors and raise our stock price.

Pros

If you are up for challenges, you are in right place. The work life balance is another best thing at OWW. One of the strong technology companies in midwest. Your work gets recognized properly, star awards at different levels. There is annual bonus, the percentage is decided at your joining.

Cons

There is more inhouse software built on top of the open source software available for customized needs.

Pros

There is a real team atmosphere at Orbitz Worldwide. We have wonderful support from our management team. There are flexible schedules and great benefits.

Cons

Remote employees do not have a lot of interaction with corporate staff. We do receive internal communications with updates and progress reports so we feel like they are trying to keep us in the know.

Pros

If you are going to work in Chicago in technology, you have several options. You can go work for a bank or one of the financial variants - if you like working on old tech. You can go work for a startup which will be cool and interesting, but you gotta be willing to take the risk of looking for a job in 6 months when pimentoloaf.com runs out of funding and closes its doors. Orbitz stands as a unique option in the Chicago job market. Plenty of new tech pushing out of the old. Lots of opportunities to take part in communities outside of work (look for yourself: erlang, hadoop, etc). Got an emergency and need to bolt? Go! Great work/life balance. The company is open about whats going on -- the good stuff and where we need to improve. Good luck getting that kind of openness at another company this big. Most importantly, the chance to work with people smarter than you to keep pushing you to bigger and better. Want a place to just hide and collect a paycheck? This isn't the place. We work hard and we love it! You got the chops? Join us!

Cons

It is a big company and like any big company there are certain necessary evils. These usually fall onto groups that have hundreds of people to serve but only a few to do the work. HR, IT, etc. There is usually some process involved. Computer's crashed? You may get stuck in line behind the network outage -- sorry. Not the kind of response you'd get at a startup ('cause there are less than a dozen of you). Realities of large companies... HR forms (granted most are electronic), expense reports, etc. Deal with it and get back to your cool job. These should be the worst thing you have in your life!

Advice to Senior Management

Management is doing a good job keeping the communication channels open and honest. Nobody likes surprises! If anything, there is too much information to process ;)

Pros

Laid back, work hard, play hard environment
Casual dress
Fun activities where you can win travel vouchers for participation
Open senior leadership
true meritocracy

Cons

Large company so can still be a bit bureaucratic at times
Publicly listed so leaders worry about how decisions will affect performance even when it might be better for the long run

Advice to Senior Management

The more we spend on the people the better off we will be as a company on the whole. Our people are our main asset and I am happy to see we are moving strongly in a positive direction!

Pros

Orbitz offers software engineers the opportunity to work in a fun environment. The travel sector is very complex requiring very interesting and engaging technology solutions. There is no dress code so the atmosphere is comfortable, friendly, and allows developers to collaborate and get work done. The company provides espresso machines, soda machines, and limited breakfast options at no charge.

Cons

Salary compensation is competitive though bigger tech companies generally pay more for more senior developers.