Disappointed - Anonymous employee Optum Employee Review

1.0
21 Nov 2014
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great company at the beginning. Great employees, who worked as a team and took pride in the project. I learned a lot from my coworkers and made some wonderful friends. The first project manager was the best boss I've ever had. Senior management is a great group, and some have helped protect employees from middle management.

Cons

Project-level and middle management is awful. Terrible pay. No loyalty from managers. A lot of turnover. Major lay-offs took place on team. In three years, the team had four project managers, three project directors, and moved locations three times. After the first PM left, everything went downhill. Team works in fear of losing jobs. Some great workers were fired. They were replaced with people who have no skills, but were willing to work for less money. Most of the work is completed by the same small group of people, who work 24/7 (holidays and weekends and while on vacation-one employee took calls while in the hospital). Requirements aren't provided at the beginning of the projects. Due dates of deliverables are provided at the last minute. Management makes employees feel guilty if they have family obligations. There are different rules for different projects, and people on each project. No telecommuting. There is a lot of backstabbing and in-house fighting. The first person to complain to the manager, is the winner. Nobody else matters. Promotions are non-existent. If promoted, only the title changes, not the pay.

Explore other reviews about Optum

5.0
25 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great Pay. Great Benefits. Great People. awesome front line management. Frequent meals and employee input.

Cons

Worked like a cog machine.

3.0
4 Jun 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Some very talented people give so much of themselves to the company, the clients and their co-workers. I work with (and have worked with) some excellent, smart, supportive people.

Cons

Too many layoffs. Upper management is clueless about how the day to day work gets done, what it takes to make certain changes to processes, and how to treat employees. Some are great. Mostly, they just look at numbers. So many of us have been doing our jobs long enough to know what is needed for certain requests. But we don't get a voice. We just have to do it and suck it up. They are firing ('reduction in force') all of the seasoned staff and let the rest deal with the fall-out. So many teams are losing good people but those people are training their off-shore replacements before they are told about being cut. So how is that a reduction in force? It's just a reduction in payroll numbers. Everyone is on edge just waiting for the next axe to fall. And we have to try and learn or teach another role with less experienced people and more work. It's crazy. On milestone anniversaries, they send an email recognition but once the milestone gets to over 15 years, you are a target. Pay and benefits are fine by me. Raises are practically non-existent, even after layoffs and asking employees to take on more responsibility. that's messed up. They talk about work/life balance but that doesn't trickle down to the actual workers who are so stressed they fear for their jobs if they don't do the extra mile. Many of us are just hanging on instead of quitting so we can at least get some severance. Others are actively looking.

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