UnitedHealth Group Employee Reviews for Anonymous Employee

"The company that used to sincerely try hard to separate itself from the "huge corporation syndrome" in its employee relations appears to have shifted focus and goals. After a 2018 that far exceeded expectations concerning revenue, and yes that was 228 BILLION dollars, adding over 2.4 million new customers to its brand and swallowing up competitors left and right the company has begun implementing a "fewer employees, more work" approach that is killing morale all around. I was always so happy to have found my job many years ago, and each year it improved with new ideas and processes. New opportunities, better systems, smarter metrics. The company has fallen prey to the "UES Score" system, which is what sent morale into the toilet at my previous job at the worlds largest communications company. They are also eliminating or wildly reducing departments with a plan to "cross-pollinate" the work. The company no longer holds townhall-style meetings for their departments (something they did quarterly for years.) Employee input is directed towards a specific web forum for "ideas" where they get a standard acknowledgment. It's basically monitored to test morale. The team managers, who used to be amazing (and UHC should be lucky to have them), are being forced into boxes of standard corporate-think. Numbers. Numbers. Numbers. Survey. Survey. Survey. The change in management is sad, but anyone who has worked for large corps knows the routine. The medical insurance offered by THE WORLDS LARGEST INSURANCE COMPANY is insulting. Everyone agrees, but most just keep their mouth shut as because they have a job. UHC should be publicly shamed for that aspect of its employment practices. Do I see light at the end of this "rough patch?" Not really. It is becoming the megalithic monstrosity that befell all of its predecessors. No, the company won't fail, but the work environment has begun the march towards much higher turnover and constant low morale. I wish it would prove me wrong."

"This place is awful. You will work with evil, stupid losers who have been intimidated and will do anything that their Manager demands. Think of your workplace as a giant kennel for abused dogs. The animals have been abused so badly and for so long they no longer know where they are or if any future exists."

"I’ve worked here for 4 years, average raises are 2-4% per year. To get 4% you need to be exceeding expectations. You get around 2% increase per year for meeting expectations. These are the performance based raises Once a year upper management has the supervisors pick a percentage of their team for a cost of living increase, if you aren’t picked you’re SOL, you can go many years without being chosen for a cost of living raise. Managers have favorites, and micro manage you of they don’t fancy you. Other employees that they do fancy get away with a lot. There are a lot of back office politics. You get promoted based on how well you are liked more often than how well you perform. Health insurance is very expensive, with few plan options, paying for a family between premiums and deductibles can cost you close to half your income. You will still have copays so there is the half of your income."

"Pros: Good work and life balance. Cons: Zero opportunity for advancement unless one is under 40 and a friend of the manager(s). Managers and supervisors seldom communicate, as they are in meetings all day."

"Management is poor and ineffective. My manager set me up for failure and did not follow through on her promises She scheduled me for work I had no idea about and she didn’t either when I asked her. It also was rare that I received real-time feedback from a manager; they would instead tell my manager all the things they think I did wrong and she would believe them. Management is extremely critical of everything you do so unless they approve of you, you will not succeed in the department. This can be challenging since managers often communicate poorly if at all to staff. Each manager has different expectations, which only muddies the waters. Managers delegate most of the roles and responsibilities they are listed as responsible for on that document online downward and Leads do it as well often without telling their team. Turnover is quite high and one director seemed proud of that as she boasted that many staff don’t last six months while complaining how hard it is to fire people. Managers seem to excel at negative feedback and seemingly would rather get rid of staff than develop them. I had to constantly bring up examples of my contributions since managers will either minimize or ignore any strengths you might have and are all too ready to detail your weaknesses/faults which were not tied to any data/metrics and had little impact on the project. Managers are arrogant and overconfident in their leadership abilities and above reproach as they are consistently praised by senior leaders. Feedback is used as a tool to knock an employee down by cherry picking those incidents that fit a narrative. I equate what management did to me after less than a year as a witch hunt. They will use “facts” to their advantage to disparage staff, removing all culpability from management. They take care of their own and will find ways to pick apart anyone who stands in their way before doing everything in their power to dump them. They pay really well though."

"Work/life balance is a joke. I have to work a 2nd job to pay medical bills due to our crap insurance. As with all big companies, those at the top are getting richer on the backs of those of us who actually make money for the company."

"Poorly managed and the benefits are horrible - RUN!!!!!!!!!"

"I was brought in via a merger and would not interview for this company. Individual growth and opportunities are limited and technology is outdated."

"I read all these comments and more before taking a job with UHC 4 months ago. I tried to be positive thinking that only disgruntled people will come on here and complain, and the others are too happy to even look for a site like this. The site where I work is as bad as everybody says. We are implementing a huge contract with no project plan. It appears somebody put one together a year ago, but nobody follows it. Management does not know what it wants and constantly has employees dropping work halfway done to start on something else that will ultimately not get finished or used. Technical support is horrible - much worse than I have ever experienced. I worked at another major insurance company before this one and thought it was the worst. At least the other one could stick to a plan. I have been in my profession for over 20 years, and I have just never seen a mess like this. My coworkers are all miserable as well. As bad as the work environment is, there are a few benefits I like. For me the insurance is great. The premiums are much lower than what I paid before. The higher deductible doesn't bother me since I don't have to go to the doctor often. Actually it keeps me from running to the doctor when I don't really need to, which is really the purpose of the high deductible. Those who make less than $50,000 have very very low premiums. I would have liked that years ago. Another benefit is we all have laptops so we can work at home when the weather is bad, car won't start, etc. Every site and job is different I'm sure, but the turnover where I am is very high and I can see why. However, with the bad economy and lack of jobs, it is a job where I can make the money I am used to making. I'll take it for now, but I don't see myself staying in this position long term."

"Ability to advance is limited. Underpaid for the expectations. Company expects you to drop your life at a moment's notice if they decide to apply mandatory overtime."