UKG Employee Reviews about "layoff"

Pros

Fully paid benefits, unlimited PTO, flexible schedules

Cons

Ultimate Software was amazing. For 10+ years I loved my job, my team, and leadership. There was an open door policy and everyone respected and valued one another. We had radical cantor, we collaborated, we made thoughtful decisions.. We trusted and helped one another, had each others backs. I made friends for a lifetime. In 2020 Ultimate Software and Kronos merged and the first order was to oust Ultimate C-level leadership. Fast forward to 2022 and 200+ IT folks were laid off. In 2023 another 200+ employees were laid off. They are expecting 2 more waves of layoffs to be done in April and again in June. It’s been 2.5 years since the merger and none of the technology has been integrated for internal or external users. They plan on merging softwares in May, after postponing twice, as well as a complete reorganization that will affect the process and expectations for all employees. Add to that they are doing all of this with one deadline. So roles, processes, leadership, and technology will all change at once. That is a recipe for disaster. Decisions are made based on who yells the loudest; instead of doing what is right. Ultimates culture truly was People First. Kronos came in and they are very old school corporate America. Lots of red tape. Decisions are made based on relationships. No research or due diligence needed mindset. They hired third party consultants to create training on a product and processes that they don’t understand. It’s going to be a mess.

Pros

Fair salary, very good benefits. Good team work approach even across groups and levels until the Agile move was on. Company mission and goals were very transparent

Cons

Work overload. Management has become very secretive and some so hostile to the point of making people leave. Those left behind since various layoffs hang in there in hope of the next good package is for them.

Pros

The benefits are good. Pay for engineering is decent, but nothing special. Mid level management and ICs are generally good people. Work/life balance is pretty good, but that's team dependent.

Cons

The culture used to be special, but those days are long gone. Ever since Chris Todd became CEO, things have gone downhill fast. The new executives that were brought in have completely killed the culture by taking an authoritarian stance to basically everything. Employee input no longer matters, and the execs constantly gaslight us by pretending everything is great, 'Our purpose is people' is BS. We've had 2 rounds of layoffs in the last year and a horribly botched RTO mandate. People who were hired as full remote are being forced to come in 3 days a week if they're within 50 miles of any office. They've taken a hard stance against remote work and are trying to get rid of remote employees any way they can. Morale is at an all time low. On the ultimate side, the product isn't that great and never really was... It's slow, unintuitive, clunky, and based on outdated tech. On top of that, it has a tendency to break down frequently. Our bread and butter used to be customer support. Customers tolerated the clunky product because they knew they could get someone on the phone ASAP when things went wrong. Well, not anymore. The brilliant executive team completely gutted support and Customer Satisfaction metrics are the worst they've ever been. All the tenured people who actually knew the product ended up leaving and the new people are clueless. UltiPro is a complex product, it takes years to master... You can't simply throw bodies at it, but they don't understand or care. And guess what they blamed the low CSAT metrics on... Remote Work. Not the fact that they restructured support and forced people out. It was remote work that did it. What a joke. So, long story short... The good days are behind us. UKG is a sinking ship and I have zero faith in the current executives to keep this thing afloat. I'm jumping ship as soon as I get a decent offer.

Pros

Benefits, 401k, "unlimited" PTO, coworkers

Cons

After more than a week since their official RTO announcement and watching Glassdoor reviews pile up, here is why UKG employees are angry. Return to Office was announced about year ago when UKG stated their Hybrid work model. However, people that were hired virtually and had it written in black and white on their offer letters, were going to stay virtual. The rug was pulled out of said virtual employees a little over a week ago. After a c-suite state of meeting, it was pretty clear that they were pushing for all employees to convert to the hybrid, 3x per week in-office schedule. In case there were any doubts left, it was followed by an email allowing employees 4 weeks to have them and their families adjust to the new schedule. And the coldly written FAQ attached answered the biggest question.... employees hired virtually were also expected to come in. People naturally had questions such as: What is considered a local employee? How many miles away from an office does UKG consider local? My team is on the other side of the US, do I still have to go into an office? How can I opt out? Are there exemptions? Managers and Directors were also taken aback. They really did not know that this announcement was being made. Nevertheless, it doesn't sound like managers nor directors have any say in the matter. Exemptions will probably be given for extreme cases. Badge swipes will be monitored and if there are not enough people coming to the office, the mandates will have more severe consequences if not followed. During the first wave of national RTOs, UKG offered remote positions that candidates accepted because they were told they would remain virtual. No one takes a position knowing they will at one point encounter 3.5 hours of traffic, extra car expenses, clothes, and less time with family if that position were to ever require in-office commutes. Yet, UKG has not issued a follow-up regarding the questions that were originally asked about radius and scattered teams. Employee surveys closed the day before the announcement. Surveys that certainly state 'We want to stay home' despite what C-level executives overhear in-office workers say. No one is going to tell them to their face they hate coming into the office. I don't expect the next company survey to score even half of what it did this time around. For a company, whose slogan is 'Our Purpose is People', it is painfully obvious their purpose is not THEIR people. I feel for the employees who have children, aging parents, or whatever is going on with them that means the world to them. For young, single employees it may not be that big of a deal. For families with complicated dynamics and depend on the benefits, it's a true come-to-Jesus moment. They are now realizing they either comply or resign. It may be what the company wants... a way to thin the herd without having to announce additional layoffs. This is not Kronos anymore. It certainly isn't Ultimate Software anymore. It is the mix in name only of what once were two great companies.

Pros

With the merger there is a lot of opportunity for new positions.. Challenging work. PMO is in place and has many procedures in place.

Cons

Large bubble of work that ends in about 2 years so would expect layoffs at the end of the merger cycle. Heavy dependence on Brand Name consulting organization which seems to be unable to deliver talent to meet promises to management. Bloated processes in PMO, no incentive to streamline only add to bureaucracy. Product teams and Business Teams stretched thin as demands to support merger and security issues continue.

Pros

Steady job. Good, highly competent, thoughtful coworkers. Pleasant working environment encouraged easy camaraderie.

Cons

Rigid, 'this is how we've always done it', top-down management culture tended to discourage marketing innovation. Left middle managers limited freedom of action. Comparatively low-to-middling pay (did little to shield many employees from layoffs in last recession).

Pros

Kronos has a nice Vacation package

Cons

* Kronos wants US people to work around the clock for free so that they can pay much less elsewhere cheap. Extensive offshoring and extensive access to production data for employees everywhere. * Kronos management is oblivious to the feelings and working conditions of the individual contributors. * Kronos yas a yearly layoff policy ever since allowing themselves to be purchased by private equity firms * Kronos is owned by private equity firms that only care about short term gain

Pros

My team and what I do are amazing. I genuinely love what I get paid to do and my peers.

Cons

We've had multiple layoffs and it's evident that we're just numbers. They mention that more layoffs may be coming and that never gives you warm and fuzzy feelings. Tenure nor knowledge hold weight in their decision.

Pros

Prior to merger, was the People First (including Employees) culture and Benefits.

Cons

C-Suite level micromanagement. Managers no longer seen as true decision makers. Layoffs and more to come I am sure.

Pros

Great benefits and pay. Work on leading edge technology projects.

Cons

Kronos routinely will layoff 20% to 30% of their workforce with no warning. Not a good company to work for in a depressed economy. Their office in Portland, Oregon laid off 70% of the employees from 2008 - 2010. Most got 2 weeks servance and that was it.