Norfolk Southern Employee Reviews for Engineer

The job is decent, the pay is good but the schedule is terrible. On-call 24/7/365 with rotating off days. On top of that you're constantly out of town so you might even miss said off days

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An absolutely sickening experience that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

Locomotive Engineer (Former Employee) - Bellevue, OH - May 29, 2023

What is the best part of working at the company?Laughing at the moronic, slack jawed, hillbilly, see-men sucken c0cksuckers that ran the operation.What is the most stressful part about working at the company?Having to stand by while the slack jawed, hillbilly, power bottoming c0cksuckers ran the place into the ground.What is the work environment and culture like at the company?Brainless, toothless, slack jawed hillbilly c0cksuckers looking like brainless dipwads.What is a typical day like for you at the company?Disparaging total depression AND102 east hamilton st. oberlin ohio is where molestation happens.

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Norfolk Southern insights

Based on 1,372 survey responses

What people like

Fair pay for job

Areas for improvement

Time and location flexibility
Sense of belonging
Trust in colleagues

Combative work environment

Engineer (Current Employee) - Harrisburg, PA - May 9, 2023

Under paid over worked poor relationship between union members and management. This company only cares about the shareholders and nothing about safety until you make a mistake then they throw you under the buss

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Looking for something new

Engineer (Current Employee) - Roanoke, VA - April 19, 2023

Be very mindful if you choose this company. There is absolutely no work life balance. Lower level management are often getting squeezed to things with minimal help. The in turn pressure on workers.

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Toxic

Engineer (Current Employee) - Indiana - February 23, 2023

No idea when you are going to or getting off work. You cannot make doctor's appointments or plans for family. You get assigned vacation by seniority. No one stays high turnover. Used to be fun and good place to work.

Pros

Coworkers

Cons

No life whatsoever. This company does not care anything about their employees or their health.

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Don't do it

Locomotive Engineer (Current Employee) - Chicago, IL - February 19, 2023

Bad management and culture.you are just a number and they don't care if you have a life. They care about profits and that is all..you are just a 2 hour call away from being replaced..look how they treated the residents of Ohio after they blew their town up.

Cons

Every day could be your last.

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Not a good job for a family

Engineer (Former Employee) - Princeton, IN - February 9, 2023

Good pay good benefits if ya want a life and family id look elsewhere. It's the first job that the minute they hire ya they try to fire ya. A city job would be way better.

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Benefits and pay absolutely no home life run if your married 8 of of 10 are divorced within first 3 years

Locomotive Engineer (Current Employee) - Asheville, NC - December 12, 2022

Not a place for you if you have a family or enjoy outside work activities not a lot of time off even though the company will say they give time off I’ve been here over 20 years and surprised my wife has stuck it out with me as my coworkers and I mean a lot of them are not that fortunate once u stay and get used to the money it’s hard to leave but you have to wake up and realize your kids and family will be dead last and you will miss a lot of birthdays holidays and games. They used to give us time off now they handle you if you mark off when before they did not and they will tell you that you get holidays well you do but you work them only two you might be off is thanksgiving and Christmas but that’s kinda 50/50

Pros

Retirement can retire with a lot of money at 60 with 30 years service

Cons

No time to go to doctor or with family work more weekends than u will during week lots of night work

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Not worth your time

Locomotive Engineer (Current Employee) - Austell, GA - November 5, 2022

This is a bad place to work. The work life balance is terrible. They ask so much from their employees while giving very little. The management is incompetent. They don't care about workplace safety routinely putting employees in unsafe working conditions. My reporting location has rats and coach roaches around it. They dont train people on technology yet they want to punish when something goes wrong. If you want to apply for a position here please reconsider. This is the bottom of the barrel

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Poor leadership. No work life balance.

Engineer (Current Employee) - Roanoke, VA - September 19, 2022

They hire to fire you and you are never home. The money is great, the people are great and the craft is timeless. However poor management and zero people skills have ruined this once honored craft.

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Horrible work environment and poor managed company!

Locomotive Engineer (Former Employee) - Moberly, MO - August 24, 2022

NS is all about shareholders and conserving fuel. Their customers, employee safety, and workers fall under everything. Poor management, most don't understand basic railroad principles. They know how to write people up, try to fire them so they can justify their jobs. I quit after 25 years, there was no quality of life. Personal days and vacation days, though earned, were declined unless you wanted a Tuesday or Wednesday off, if you could get a trainmaster to even answer their phone.

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Worst place i have ever experienced.

Locomotive Engineer (Current Employee) - Cincinnati, OH - August 13, 2022

Do not give up your personal life. It use to be a great job but the company has chose profit over people. Now they are in trouble and the benifits and pay do not outweigh the time they require for you to work. Hours are ridiculous, the management constantly try to fire you to show they are doing they're job so they can climb the corporate ladder. Definitely try another career path no matter how much you love trains.

Pros

No pro's in todays railroad.

Cons

To many to list.

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Terrible place to work

Locomotive Engineer (Former Employee) - Harrisburg, PA - August 2, 2022

NS is the worst Class 1 railroad out their. The management is the worst try to fire you constantly. They have fired thousands of good employees since 2018 when PRS started. All they care about are profits but they have nobody left to work they can’t run trains nobody wants to work for them stay away if you know what’s good for you.

Pros

Weekly pay

Cons

Constant write ups for nothing

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Terrible company and management

Locomotive Engineer (Current Employee) - Meridian, MS - May 23, 2022

The first 10 years ot was an ok job but management sucked. Now it's a terrible job and management still sucks. They have cut jobs to the bare minimum and increased the expectations of the employees without any increase in pay or benefits. All to improve the stock price and revenue. To heck with the employees. The first 10 years of my career the only way people left was retirement or injury. The last 10 years we have had a huge amount of people to quit. Even 10 and 15 year employees. And the company doesn't seem to care.

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Horrible.They hide in bushes an spy on employees.They even broke into a office workers home apartment because they where absent from work too long.

Engineer (Former Employee) - Allentown, PA - April 13, 2022

Run away. Bad working conditions.Very dirty.Very noisy.Could be dangerous.Work in cold, work in rain work in snow work in extreme heat as well. Are nice days occasionally.Work any and every shift.

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They do not care for there employees. The moral is low. They hide and watch you daily., as if they hired you to fire you.

Locomotive Engineer (Former Employee) - Macon, GA - April 10, 2022

It’s simply a basic job. You have it one day, the next day it can be taken from you for basically anything. They do not care for there employees. Management hide and watch you work daily, looking to see if you break a rule. The pay is good, but you don’t have the time to enjoy it. Benefits are great as well. You miss out on all family life, only to go to work we’re the moral is extremely low. Most people I worked with dread there entire day at work.

Pros

Good pay and benefits

Cons

Management literally hide in the woods and watch you work.

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Fast paced and exciting

Locomotive Engineer (Current Employee) - Virginia - February 17, 2022

Great company. Have enjoyed my 11 years there. Fast paced environment where you will learn something new constantly. Job for life. If had to do it again I would.

Pros

Great pay and schedule

Cons

Long hours

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Company is pathetic.

Locomotive Engineer (Former Employee) - St. Louis, MO - January 15, 2022

Maybe there will be a change...but I doubt it. I just retired from this company after 31 years. Change...they do...never for the better. So many new people in management that have no idea how to Railroad. They think because they have a degree, they can figure it out....IT DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY AT THE RAILROAD!!!...It is a experience type job...hands on... NOT a Smart A## Punk with a degree kind of job. If you can put up with the Stupidity you might last...IF THEY DON'T LAY YOU OFF FIRST....End of the road is good because of RR Retirement...30 + years down the road....

Pros

None...Right now

Cons

No Family Life

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Absolutely horrible place to work.

Engineer (Former Employee) - Conway, PA - December 29, 2021

They will literally fire you for anything and everything. Work on call 24/7/365. They always preach safety, but in reality, safety only matters when it doesn’t cost them any money or time. They talk about family, but you’ll never see yours. Absolutely horrible place to work.

Pros

Pay

Cons

Everything

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Any new hires in transportation are going to be seasonal, if this company gets its way.

Locomotive Engineer (Current Employee) - Toledo, OH - December 17, 2021

Working transportation from a railroad has always been a challenging career path, with the on call nature, traveling and working nights and holidays included. This company has recently been infected with the Precision Railroad bug, and it might be fatal. They are shedding jobs, manpower, shutting down terminals, and have thrown all labor agreements out the door in the process. They demand more work from its labor for the same or less amount of compensation, labor is short because of all the cuts they have made systemwide. Add to this that the company has made it a priority to eliminate the conductor craft, which is more than half of the current workforce and the result is a miserable dead end job, employees with 20 plus years seniority are leaving, rats off a sinking ship.

Pros

Checks don’t bounce

Cons

Culture, work life balance, bleak outlook, disregard for labor contracts

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This USED to be a great place to work.

Engineering Department (Former Employee) - Harrisburg Division - December 16, 2021

The winds of change have blown at NS in the last couple years and it has become an absolutely dismal existence. Junk equipment, horrible planning, subpar management and little to no sense of worth. Employees are leaving in droves. I was fortunate enough to get out and find another career that is so much more rewarding for a company that truly cares about its employees. You don’t realize how downright terrible NS is until you leave and look back at how badly you were treated. You are a number. That is all. If you died, your body wouldn’t be cold and they would be hiring someone to fill your position. The ironic part is the company seems completely ok with this culture too. The company not valuing the employees cause the employees to not value the company. Take all of the 1-star reviews seriously. Look elsewhere.