Western Railroad Discussion > UP Ranked as #1 Worst Company to Work For!!!

Money Inc just ranked Union Pacific as the WORST company to work for. Of course we all know the reasons why;

https://moneyinc.com/worst-companies-to-work-for/

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

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Well they do supply their own version of cab air conditioning. 

Several familiar names on this list besides the UP:

Forever 21 - Just announced this week they are closing all their stores.
The Children's Place - My sister was once a district manager for them. She had no life there. They too recently closed a pile of stores.
Frontier Communications - My Internet and telephone provider (I really have no other practical choices where I live). Their field people are great, but their customer service is the worst. In fact, several local merchants recently set up a "lunch fund" where we donate to provide lunch money at several local eateries for the field tech guys.

And of course Uncle Pete.

I was surprised to see The Fresh Market on the list. The stores I have been in are well-kept and the staff are friendly. Might be a nice place to work if you were a senior looking for beer money.

Poor wages????  I would think that must be management and not the unionized rank and file.  Interesting aritcle, thanks for posting.

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

Ten years ago I retired after 42 years working for one of the largest insurance companies in North America, maybe the world.  My last 5 working years were spent trying to help get the company to move out of the the past toward the future. You see we had been doing things the same basic way for almost 50 years. Our competition had made great strides using technology to sell and service policies. The result was a lower price and an eroding market share for a company whose bottom line was still burdened by an excessive expense ratio (relative to our main competitors). The "Bean-Counters" as they have been called, didn't take over the company, but they called attention to changes needing to be made so we could stay competitive.  

While many smaller communities are only served by one railroad, a shipper around Chicago needing to send something to the West Coast has two choices and the one offering the best schedule for the lowest price will get the business.  The cost saving measures instituted by the RR company will determine whether the RR thrives or falls back.  

Perfect example of a company that reaped the benefits of the recent tax cuts but none of those positive benefits made it down to the employees.  In fact, just the opposite on the UPRR, as they continue to reduce their workforce to improve the bottom line for the shareholders.  Sad...

Sorry but a list by an author using research done by another company who used a source of GlassDoor.com is hardly considered reliable and concise.

Sites such as GlassDoor.com receive the majority of their postings by people posting negatives and is therefore in no way a true representation of all employees. 

 

Really? I don’t know the reasons why.
Before I retired at UP I never saw or heard of employees leaving because it was such a bad employer. 
Of course there were those who complained both at UP and predecessor SP, but when asked why they did not leave there were always excuses. The greatest complainers were consistently those who had never worked for a different employer.

funnelfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Money Inc just ranked Union Pacific as the WORST
> company to work for. Of course we all know the
> reasons why;
>
> https://moneyinc.com/worst-companies-to-work-for/

Zephyr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Perfect example of a company that reaped the
> benefits of the recent tax cuts but none of those
> positive benefits made it down to the employees.
>  In fact, just the opposite on the UPRR, as they
> continue to reduce their workforce to improve the
> bottom line for the shareholders.  Sad...

Except I know more than a few employees who believed in their company and invested what they could in company stock and are sitting pretty well right now.

Rail companies more  than others have a triple or more whammy.  High capital costs, high lobor costs, high regulatory federal, state and local envronments.
Certainly you can make the case they go overboard but sitting around complacent is not a real alternative.

As far as taxes if you add up all the taxes they pay the greatest deduction in federal taxes is probably the other taxes they pay on the way.


Bob

Bob



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/02/19 10:16 by robj.

The article, crap or not, sets the tone for anyone looking to work for UP, so it's either a disservice or a warning,
either way the optics aren't good.

Out

So some survey lists UP as the worst. Others rate it the best. Hardly worth paying much attention to.

Overall railroad employment pays good money. Better than an outfit like Forever 21.

Posted from Android

No shocker, as its been that way for the past 20 years. I worked for UP for a number of years.  Just imagine ***GASP** if teamwork and good morale were in place at Union Pacific?   I often wondered how well the company would fair if they had a profit sharing program  (consisting of productivity and safety incentives)..not some cheap program...but take, for example, 20% of profit  and divide it amongst all employees.   I bet they would reach a 40% to 50% operating ratio very quickly.  Unfortunately, greed and short term focus take priority over long-term profitability.   UP will continue to cut cut cut until they start to bleed, then only add assets (people, equipment, track) when needed.  While not perfect,  BNSF has their act together compared to Union Pacific.   Remember,  you can't spell stUPid without UP. 

Zephyr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Perfect example of a company that reaped the
> benefits of the recent tax cuts but none of those
> positive benefits made it down to the employees.
>  In fact, just the opposite on the UPRR, as they
> continue to reduce their workforce to improve the
> bottom line for the shareholders.  Sad...

Agreed. Corporations are by nature usually only invested in self-preservation and/or short term profits. (Necessary in a competative enviornment) The latter in order to keep stock prices high and attract capital. 
Corporate tax cuts are a poor way to stimulate hiring or give raises given the fact that hiring is a result of increases in busines, and raises are a result of increased productivity or (employment) market competition. In addition, it has been well documented that most businesses won't use tax cut money to buy equipment unless the demand for their product or service requies such aquisitions. There are of course, rare occasions when a business may purchase new equipment or expand because of such cuts, but such events are rare. In reality, tax cut funds are often used to buy back stock or in some cases, even reward top executives with generous bonuses. 
Voodoo ecomomics at it's best. 

We've had a "profit sharing" program at AT&T for a number of years. Mostly for management, but depending on the contract, non-management employees might be included too.
Never seemed to make much of a difference to those of us out in the field.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/02/19 16:54 by PHall.

Glad to see all the UP lovers have come out in force.  haha.  Drink the Koolaid.

UP sees their employees as a liability, not an asset.  In fact, these days, they dont even want to run a railroad.   What more needs to be said.

A lot of large corporations see employees that way.

tomstp Wrote:
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> A lot of large corporations see employees that
> way.

That makes it ok or laudible? 

"But your honor, it's OK that i stole money from my friends, cause everyone does it."

Geez, Louise.... Uncle Pete has been bulding America for 155 years??? Now I know who to blame for the present condition of the country...

;^)

santafe199 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Geez, Louise.... Uncle Pete has been bulding
> America for 155 years??? Now I know who to blame
> for the present condition of the country...
>
> ;^)

Good one

I'd say most large railroads are the same. Not unique to UP.

Posted from Android