Pros
- stable company - good benefits (pension!) - stays true to its values - good work/life balance ( you won't be asked to regularly put in 60-70 hour weeks, if ever) - easy to jump around positions within the company DISCLAIMER: I am reviewing the company as someone who has only worked in the IT department at UP headquarters. My experience has been quite different (for better or for worse) than operating employees who work in the yards or on the trains. Union Pacific is a great company, and if you stay with the company long enough, you'll have a very comfortable retirement. They have some great retirement benefits, and they're medical benefits aren't too shabby either. The culture at the headquarters is very laid back, and the company recognizes that its employees want to have a life outside of work. In my time here, I've never been asked to put in more than 50 hours in a week. The company does a great job of allowing its employees to move around internally, both laterally and vertically. You will not only be able to take advantage of position openings within the company, but you will be encouraged to do so. As a developer, you will be given a fair amount of responsibility early on, so you can start contributing right away. Additionally, while your software tools may be somewhat limited, you will receive a lot of freedom to accomplish your tasks. Union Pacific greatly values and invests heavily in its employees, and once people start working here, they tend to stay.
Cons
I don't have any complaints about the company as a whole, only things specific to my position: - compensation (for IT employees) - software is difficult to maintain - slow to implement new technologies My biggest complaint as an IT employee is the compensation. While it's nothing to sneeze at, Union Pacific does a good job beating national averages for a lot of other positions, but they're significantly below average for IT employees. As such, while UP purports hiring "top talent" in IT, this is not the case, as the company does not pay to recruit and retain top talent. Union Pacific places a much greater emphasis on getting software written over writing software well, so a lot of its code is poorly written and undocumented. As with any large company, Union Pacific takes quite a bit of time to implement new technologies, which can be frustrating, but it's more or less an expectation of a company of UP's size.