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United Nations

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United Nations

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United Nations Reviews

Updated May 29, 2023

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Found 1,854 of over 3K reviews
4.0
78% Recommend to a Friend
82% Approve of CEO

Found 1,770 of over 3K reviews

4.0
78%
Recommend to a Friend
82%
Approve of CEO
United Nations Secretary General António Guterres (no image)
António Guterres
437 Ratings

What people are saying about United Nations

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Top Review Highlights by Sentiment

Pros
  • "stable happy versatile good benefit(in 126 reviews)
  • "The people are great and passionate about what they do(in 124 reviews)
  • "a good salary and traveling by plane(in 115 reviews)
  • "Great for CV and great colleagues(in 89 reviews)
  • "Good work environment for beginners(in 64 reviews)
Cons
  • "The internship is unpaid and probably with rooms of improvement regarding the plan for career guidance(in 81 reviews)
  • "poor management, frequent abuse of authority, bureaucratic hurdles can be difficult to overcome, lots of internal red tape and lengthly clearance procedures in many departments(in 33 reviews)
  • "Long hours and a lot of paper work(in 20 reviews)
  • "Too much bureaucracy and almost impossible to get promoted.It is hard to do things differently due to the bureaucratic nature of the organization.(in 19 reviews)
Pros & Cons are excerpts from user reviews. They are not authored by Glassdoor.

Ratings by Demographics

This rating reflects the overall rating of United Nations and is not affected by filters.

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  1. 5.0
    Current Employee

    Very Good

    May 25, 2023 - Government Relations 
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Reliable, stable, constant, fair, and equal

    Cons

    Inefficient, bureaucratic, big, slow, and hard to change

    1 person found this review helpful
  2. 1.0
    Current Employee

    So disappointed in the UN which actually contributes to global problems

    May 15, 2023 - Anonymous Employee 
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Benefits - rental subsidy, nontaxable salary, children's education, medical insurance, etc. You will be surprised by how many staff members are actually in for these benefits.

    Cons

    It's an absolute hell if you're driven by goals and want to deliver results. There are so many pointless tasks that do not serve anyone and are motivated by political reasons. Employment morale is a serious issue (people not showing up to work, not doing their assigned work), a toxic culture mainly due to staff high ego. You will experience lack of management (there's no management at all). Senior management does nothing to fix employees' issues - lack of decisions, unwillingness to take responsibilities, etc. People backstab each other all the time because there are no quantifiable measures to evaluate staff performance, so that only way to get yourself promoted is through nepotism and favoritism which are prevalent in all levels of the UN. There is no training at all for junior staff. The UN has on value to add to many of the problems they are tasked to deal with - all the reports done at HQ are copy and pasted from Google. The UN is a complete joke, and should be ashamed that it operates on precious donations from Member States. No wonder so many global problems exist, and the UN is losing its ground in international relations!

    1 person found this review helpful
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  4. 1.0
    Current Employee

    Toxic culture

    May 23, 2023 - Programme Officer 
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    You get six weeks of vacation to try to manage the burnout from your job.

    Cons

    I'm embarrassed to work at the United Nations. As an employee, I don't see a work environment that corresponds to any of its purported values. The organization frequently chooses failure. Projects that should take months stretch on to years. Work that should be done by staff is handed to consultants. Outputs are often of low quality. There is zero will to change or improve. I've seen a deep lack of integrity in hiring. Managers refuse to consider highly qualified people. Unqualified people are allowed to pass interviews, even if they fail the assessment. People who lack intelligence, social skills or any work ethic get promoted. There is zero career development or training. I regret joining the organization and feel stuck there.

    Continue reading
    Be the first to find this review helpful
  5. 5.0
    Current Employee

    Awesome

    May 25, 2023 - Associate Expert 
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Working at the UN is good

    Cons

    Can't think of one for now

    Be the first to find this review helpful
  6. 4.0
    Former Employee, more than 1 year

    excellent job

    May 22, 2023 - Senior Political Affairs Officer in Midtown New York
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Opportunity to excel, use creativity, advance peace.

    Cons

    A lot of staffer do not pull their weight, very contingented

    Continue reading
    Be the first to find this review helpful
  7. 5.0
    Current Employee

    Global impact, inspiring work

    May 17, 2023 - Program Managment 
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Meaningful work that has global impact

    Cons

    At times can be overly bureaucratic

    Be the first to find this review helpful
  8. 4.0
    Former Employee, less than 1 year

    Best Internship (though unpaid)

    May 15, 2023 - Internship in New York, NY
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Very engaging and provides room for juniors to learn and be involved

    Cons

    Very rigorous application process that often doesn't bear fruit

    Be the first to find this review helpful
  9. 4.0
    Current Employee

    Un

    May 2, 2023 - Diplomat in New York, NY
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Make a difference in the global community

    Cons

    It is hard to get things done, a lot of burnout

    1 person found this review helpful
  10. 4.0
    Current Employee

    great organization

    May 2, 2023 - Anonymous Employee 
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    great organization to work with and for

    Cons

    sometimes the hours can be long hours

    Be the first to find this review helpful
  11. 5.0
    Current Employee

    Good experience

    May 3, 2023 - Internship in New York, NY
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Nice experience and nice people

    Cons

    Lack of Opportunity to continue employment

    Be the first to find this review helpful
Viewing 1 - 10 of 1,770 Reviews
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United Nations Reviews FAQs

United Nations has an overall rating of 4.0 out of 5, based on over 3,062 reviews left anonymously by employees. 78% of employees would recommend working at United Nations to a friend and 66% have a positive outlook for the business. This rating has decreased by -1% over the last 12 months.

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, United Nations employees rate their compensation and benefits as 4.0 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at United Nations. This rating has decreased by -3% over the last 12 months.

78% of United Nations employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews. Employees also rated United Nations 3.7 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.9 for culture and values and 3.3 for career opportunities.

According to reviews on Glassdoor, employees commonly mention the pros of working at United Nations to be career development, coworkers, benefits and the cons to be management, culture.

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Glassdoor has 3,062 United Nations reviews submitted anonymously by United Nations employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if United Nations is right for you.