United States Steel Reviews

Pros

Benefits, and the opportunity to work for a U.S. based and owned corporation. Also, the opportunity to work in a global setting.

Cons

The hierarchical nature of the company can take some time to get used to. The working experience can be totally different dependent on what organization you work for.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to your people, they are much smarter and internally motivated than you may appreciate. Rewards and small courtesies can go a long way to building morale and team cohesiveness.

Pros

Good benefit in the area. Nice working environment.

Cons

A lot of traveling. Need balance with family.

Advice to Senior Management

More communication with employees.

Pros

Still hiring in this bad economy

Cons

Still firing in this bad economy

Advice to Senior Management

Happy employee's are more productive than angry employees

Pros

US Steel is an old company. Founded in the 1890s, it is still holding its own. It has a service center where the sclerotic upper management has its H1-B visa holders attempt to update its technology in a rather haphazard way.

Cons

If you ilke abuse, condescension, low wages, and the like, then this is the place for you! If you like to feel alienated from the intellectual products of the hours spent from your life, work here.

Advice to Senior Management

Management should stop being abusive and condescending to people with multiple master's degrees. Technical management should be more aware of recent developments in software engineering management.

Pros

Depending upon your manager and their level within the company, you do have the ability to manage work-life issues, especially extreme ones that really make it very difficult to separate work form your personal life. I have personally been treated quite well in this area.
They have good benefits and salary- nicely competitive.
Vacation which becomes available after a 1 year is fair and competitive.
Many of the people in individual departments and operations areas are very nice, they are hard workers and they truly want to make a difference.

Cons

Need updates to systems and technology areas.
Much of mid and upper managment, both at plant sites and headquarters, need to be looked at closely for their skill sets in the jobs they are performing.
USS has a habit of putting people that have been 'ear-marked' into positions. That is itself a problem- they don't promote based on skills, but whether you've caught the eye of someone else in upper managemenet.
Some individuals are who are 'ear-marked' may good management candidates, but are not utilized in the specialty/field most appropriate to them. I currently have a GM who truly doesn't understand, and worse takes pride in, the specialty he's currently in charge of. If he understood half of what the field fundamentals were, the department would be in a much better place.
Also, while the focus on safety is refreshing, they need to understand that much too much time is wasted on safety issues which are not truly safety issues. They often make mountains out molehills and that gets escalated throughout the entire organization to the detriment of time management and cost control. Safety is important, but there's a line and USS has crossed it in this regard.
The infighting and political maneuvering between departments is worse than at other large corporations where I have been employed. There is little concern for the people who have to deal with the decisions that get made at the department head level and whether someone fought to get their way regardless of the consequences just to get a check in the 'win' column to move their career forward.
Major time wasting tasks which accomplish nothing other meeting some upper management whim. Also these temd to end up making individuals representing USS to the outside Customer and Vendor bases look like we're incompetant as a company.

Advice to Senior Management

Update your technology and programs
Update your viewpoint on what management is in place and how you promote.
Stop the incessant time-wasting tasks that serve to inform you on only small portions of what is actually occuring in the company you are running and infinitely manipulable to show only what someone who wants to keep their job and move up want to show you.
And take long, hard looks at your general business processes- they are outdated, dangerous to the future of what could be a much better company, and political and not talent driven.
I would also strongly suggest that USS learn when to cut their losses on projects. When items are slated to be completed in 2 years and they still aren't finished after 6 years have passed - time to evaluate your managers, your hired contractors, and why you are still pouring money into the process with no results.

Pros

-Pay and benefits- they are very good, will pay you for over 8 hrs if you are there long enough
-Vacation-3 weeks after 1 year
-The cool factor-The process of turning steel in to useful products is amazing
-The exposure to all of the different things you work one as an engineer-you gain tons of useful experience.

Cons

-The management does not develop managers, they just pass on bad management habits such as belittling employees, screaming in your face, do as I say, not as I do situations, and the list can go on
-Too much hurry up and wait-way too many just be here moments and watch rather than actually accomplishing anything
-Poor maintenance attitude, management does not maintain their equipment
-Working with the union-They have many very capable people, but have a lot of duds too
-A lot of hours required to really complete your job due to laziness on everyone else's part
-Too much emphasis on useless safety programs

Advice to Senior Management

-Upgrade your corporate culture, a little goes a long way here
-Have a better maintenance attitude, if you take care of your equipment it will take care of you.
-Too many toxic leaders occupy your operations ranks,- you are creating managers that do not take responsiblity for their actions, just ones that defer blame.

Pros

Benefits, Pay, Tuition Reimbursement, Mobility

Cons

Lack of advancement, volatile industry

Pros

Flexible Hours Free Parking Decent hardware

Cons

Boring, lack of exciting work
Everything moves slow.

Advice to Senior Management

Need to give more people an opportunity to learn new things. Things move at a snail's pace around the office.

Pros

Great benefits, decent salary and wages. Working at the plants there is a lot of teamwork and communication between groups.

Cons

People are handpicked for jobs. Don't expect to plan your own career path, it will be planned for you. If you don't move, you will be passed over.

Pros

The wages are descent and the benefits are good and paid for. There is really no hard job plant wide.

Cons

Terrible environment , terrible management , anytime someone calls off you get stuck working a 16 hour shift to cover for them, no unity in union and swing shift.

Advice to Senior Management

Its not 1950 Wives work too and people have families . And learn how to talk to your employees they are what makes the company go round.