Pros
There are still a lot of talented Engineers at UKG. Work-life balance is great. I never had an issue with PTO being denied and was actually encouraged by my manager to take time off. Engineering management in my case was great. I felt engaged with my team, we communicated well and got things done. In Epic you will find help when you need it, and people look forward, at least in my experience, to share knowledge and help others. Culture across Engineers in some management is great in the Epic Organization. Benefits have gotten worse over the years, health insurance has higher deductible and out of pocket max, as well as specialist visits have a higher copay, but overall UKG still has some of the best benefits in the space. 401k match is great and I hope they never take that away.
Cons
UKG's purpose is NOT people—unless "people" refers to H&F, in which case, yes, it is! H&F wants to get its money back tenfold and will do whatever it takes to achieve that. For example, they laid off 14% of the company while hiring over 1,000 people in India in the same month. There are multiple layers of middle management whose primary role is to generate reports, make you present demos, and create even more reports—followed by yet another report explaining delays in stories and why an epic could be delayed. Leadership continues to bring in new VPs and Directors, each presented as the solution to the company's problems. These hires introduce disruptive ideas (which, of course, we’ve heard before), only to leave for new roles at other companies after a year or two. Engineers constantly struggle with poor architectural decisions. Despite raising concerns with immediate management about these issues, our feedback rarely makes it any further. This top-down company gives little weight to engineers' opinions. There's no clear direction for existing products, and priorities keep shifting without a solid strategy. Employee morale is low, and there's minimal motivation to drive progress. People are simply doing the bare minimum to get by. H&F has dismantled the great culture that Ultimate once had, and this will catch up to them. If you're interviewing and only care about salary and benefits, UKG might be a good fit. But if you're seeking innovation and growth, look elsewhere.