Union Pacific Reviews

Pros

I've found that there is no typical "UP experience." If you work with a good team on a good project, UP can be a great place to work. Some selling points that seem to be fairly universal are:

- The work-life balance is okay.
- Working from home is allowed in special circumstances with manager approval.

Cons

- Probably the biggest reason I left was offshore contracting. It totally changed the role of software developers within the company and quality went down the tubes.
- There is apathy everywhere and projects are so inter-connected that you will be affected by that in one way or another.
- There is an unbelievable amount of red tape and process around everything, from getting basic software installed on your workstation, to making quarterly updates to your annual performance review.
- All developers are considered to be on call 24/7 in case their application(s) break, even if it's during Christmas dinner or you are at a bar on a Saturday night. Most support calls I received were false alarms that I shouldn't have been called for... but was.
- There are also other events developers will need to participate in outside of normal work hours, like pushing code changes into production and testing after infrastructure changes. Oh, and twice a year for daylight saving time.

Advice to Senior Management

The changes I've seen in recent years have taken away every advantage there was to working for Union Pacific. Why would anyone develop software for UP when they could make significantly more money with fewer headaches?

Pros

Work life balance is great in the accounting department, most Sr. Managers are out of the office by 530. Compensation is great compared to Omaha cost of living. Not competitive at all (this could also be a bad thing)

Cons

Promotions are slow to come by usually taking over 2 years for your FIRST promotion while employees in other departments at a much faster pace. Leadership is unprofessional and rumors spiral out of control. No control of next assignment causing employees to become bored with their VERY simple jobs. Too technology heavy (finance majors do not want to write code!)

Advice to Senior Management

Care about what your employees want. Get out of the good old boy mentality. FIRE SOME OF YOU! Intice your employees to work hard.

Pros

There is only one benefit (and I am not kidding) - Good pay (when you are not cut off, bumped, furloughed, or otherwise not getting to work).

Cons

On call schedule (but this is tolerable). The company will cut your position with no notice! You can get bumped while you are still on a train and won't find out until you tie up the job at home terminal. Management (in my experience) has no interpersonal or communication skills - they try to set people up for failure. If (when) you are laid off, they will call you back at their liesure and lay you off again before you get your paycheck (one of very few you will get your first two/three years). If you have any other option for employment, consider taking it!!!

Advice to Senior Management

Put people first! Heck, put them somewhere in the equation....??

Pros

Union Pacific is a world class company. America can't survive without railroads, and the industry is the place to be in my opinion.

Cons

The quality of life and your experience at this company greatly depends on the position you hold. People often look at the relatively good salaries trainmen receive, but do not realize that 80 percent of the time these people are away from home. A trainman's life is spent 1. On a locomotive 2. In a hotel 3. 10 Hours of rest at home 4. Repeat the process

Advice to Senior Management

Bring the corporate culture you have up at headquarters and Harriman down to the people who actually move the trains.

Pros

Money. Before you pay the cost to work here.

Cons

Not for the educated or passionate.

Advice to Senior Management

Out with the old, in with the new and competent.

Pros

excellent salary . great benefits and friendly work environment

Cons

No set schedule .365 7/24 forget weekend off and holiday

Advice to Senior Management

Nothing bad to say great company to work for

Pros

Very Good benefits along with compensation if you work enough. Great retirement package if you also do very well working. Can make alot of money but it does have it's draw backs.

Cons

Long work days and no set schedule. It operates 365/24/7 so deal with it. Not the job if you want holidays off and important events off. Not for those that can't deal with no having a schedule or balancing life around your work.

Advice to Senior Management

Needs to be more flexible in the way it does things. New ideas save money but can hurt productivity and also hurts workers morale.

Pros

The benefits are great, the pay is very competitive, and the culture is very laid back. If you aren't the kind of person who likes to be micromanaged, this is overall a good place to work.

Cons

It can be very slow moving, especially with embracing new ideas. They want fresh opinions and ideas, but they rarely take them, at least not without a lengthy initiation process. Try getting a new software product purchased. It will take at least a year. Try suggesting a new process be implemented. Probably won't even happen. They are very set in their ways. Some are good, but some are ancient and need change, but embracing that is unlikely.

Advice to Senior Management

Ask your new hires and interns for advice. They've come from outside the box, and that is the kind of raw suggestions you need. Don't dismiss it. Encourage it.

Pros

The company is great and people treat each other well. I felt like most of the people were really excited to work there. The training programs are great and the company provides opportunities to meet other employees.

Cons

It's in Omaha, which still is not a good place to be a young professional.

Pros

Senior management is always there to push you to do your best. They encourage you to exceed expectations and keep your mind sharp. They also allow alot of time for new hires to get acquainted with systems and environment as a whole

Cons

There needs to be more team bonding activities

Advice to Senior Management

keep encouraging employees to do more and exceed their expectations to take the company to the next highest level.