Orbitz Worldwide Reviews

Pros

Ability to contribute to organizational goals, feel like what I do makes a difference, fun work environment, culture that supports dialogue and innovation, management who cares, smart & talented people, flexible work environment when needed; casual attire, always learning something new about the business or technology.

Cons

One has to take care to ensure a work-life balance that is sustainable. There is so much to do (which is great because I've never been bored) that it is easy to feel compelled to work too many hours - mostly this is self-inflicted, sometimes just required.

Pros

Despite being a large organization, it's very collaborative. I work in a satellite office but have ample opportunity to discuss ideas, issues, concepts, and strategy with members from all different teams across the organization and even those abroad. There feels like a lot of opportunity for growth and advancement within such a large organization.

Cons

It is a bit of a behemoth, and sometimes your work gets drowned out in the larger organization. It's hard to make your mark on the company as a whole unless you're doing something really exceptional. But overall, despite having 1500+ employees across the globe, Orbitz somehow manages to have a small-town feel. I chalk it up the nice Midwesterners in Chicago who make up most of the staff :)

Pros

Though I know this is not the case for all departments, the team I work with telecommutes nearly 100%. Even in that environment, I would say that I still have a lot of interaction with my peers, managers, and those whom I support. The accomplishments of the team are recognized and celebrated. Orbitz rewards high performance through a yearly bonus program. There is also a program of more "spontaneous" rewards through which it is possible to accrue dollars toward a pretty impressive array of services and retailers. My managers are inspiring and have helped me to grow in my area of focus. They have also been very aware of the work/life balance and regularly check in with me to make sure I'm not working myself to death! Orbitz also values staying healthy, and provides good health care coverage, though this is a shared expense. (Still, I'm very glad to have it!) Whenever someone asks me what I do for a living, it's still amazing to me when I say that I get to work in an industry that I pretty much grew up in, continue to learn new things all the time, use skills that come very naturally to me, work with amazing people, and do all of this from home! For me, that sums up working at Orbitz Worldwide.

Cons

This is not so much about the work environment, but it can be frustrating to work so hard and know of the talent and innovation that is all over this place, but not see it reflected in the stock price. (At least not at this time.)

Pros

Casual environment, lots of smart people working on interesting problems. Care about employee satisfaction and take pride in putting people in positions where they will be challenged and excited about their work.

Cons

Still working out business/technology balance and communication. Engineers not allowed to contribute creatively as much as we like to pretend. Lots of ugly old technology to support.

Advice to Senior Management

Allow engineers more input on product! It may not be the area of expertise for most, but a lot of smart people who work with the product every day are likely to come up with some good ideas.

Pros

1) Casual dress policy
2) Fun and vibrant working environment
3) Good work life balance
4) Flat organization
5) Good talent (just need to retain them!)

Cons

1) It's generally a pretty flat organization, but certain leaders in various departments do not behave that way. They don't engage their employees in conversations with senior leadership team, even though it's more effective.

2) Number of vacation days is not attractive for new employees

Advice to Senior Management

Hire people who fit in the Orbitz culture and fire those who don't fit in. Employees who don't fit in usually have negative attitude, which is contagious.

Pros

Occasional Free food in kitchen. It's a good place if you are fresher and can learn grow quickly your technology background.

Cons

Bad management, worst life work balance, no appreciation, extreme nepotism, under paid. There is no reason for technically qualified people to stick with orbitz.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop sucking up all benefits. Share some with the employees who are really getting work done. This place can thrive with good technical people but not with help of project managers and process oriented people.

Pros

Orbitz is a fairly flat organization. You get to interact with senior leadership a lot, regardless of your position. Your learning opportunities are only limited by your own drive. It is easy to reach out to various parts of the organization. Ecommerce and travel combined presents a very dynamic environment. There is a lot of change both from a micro and macro perspective.

Cons

This is not a place for somebody who believes in "seniority based promotions". It is a place where you kind of control your destiny and own your career progression.

Advice to Senior Management

Commit to fewer initiatives and do each of them very well.

Pros

Talented and knowledgeable teammates. I learn new things every day. Tremendous opportunities to pick up new and engaging work. Very much a company based on analytics and the customer experience. Great technology in a complex high-volume distributed environment. And a ton of data available to crunch.

Cons

Literally surrounded by an endless sea of potential new business opportunities. It can be difficult to make priority trade-off decisions.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep narrowing focus and taking on tough strategic decisions. Double-down on the big potential wins for our future.

Pros

Competing with the leading players in ecommerce and having the resources and vision to think and invest for the long term success of Orbitz. It's great to work on a global scale with teams around the world. Also phenomenal team with best in class experience at other world class companies.

Cons

It's an incredibly competitive space where the competition doesn't let down. Occasionally feature obsessed trying to achieve competitive parity over making focused products that just work great.

Advice to Senior Management

Focus on the things that make Orbitz great - Customer service, Innovative technology, Teamwork, and products which transform the way the world travels.

Pros

There are very few places where you get to work on high availability high transaction systems without pressure of financial institutions. Orbitz has a mature service oriented architecture that is evolving continuously

Cons

The pace is fast and sometimes we try to too much with our resources
The travel space is very competitive and priorities can change unexpectedly

Advice to Senior Management

Hire more people and stay focused
Invest in decommissioning of the old before build the new