Poor management and poor pay for lifestyle - Transportation CN Employee Review

2.0
Apr 10, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Compared to most jobs you can get out of high-school the pay is decent. The benefits aren't to bad either. Working as a conductor/engineer is easy work for the most part as well

Cons

Company expects you to be available 24/7. The pay is not worth the constant anxiety you get waiting by a phone. I have been here for over four years and I have never once seen them able to actually manage a schedule at all. You never know when you'll be called for work and if your unlucky enough to get on a spareboard with no guarantee then you might as well be working a minimum wage job. The culture at cn is also terrible with management completely uncaring about it's workers. Their are plenty of oppurtitnes for management to fix glaring issues such as scheduling, rest, and manpower shortages but instead of trying to do anything they lock out employees and force arbitration on a contract. At its core cn is one of the worst companies I've ever worked for. The job may be not to bad but the schedule and lifestyle are not worth the pay they give.

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CN Response
1y
Thank you for your feedback and for your hard work. We pride ourselves on providing our team members with great benefits and pay. When we recruit talent to our teams we spend a lot of time going over the realities associated with the railroad operating 24/7/365 days a year, including how being on call can disrupt your family life and important events. We thank you for helping move our business and the economy forward. Please share your thoughts during our regular Interaction surveys.

Explore other reviews about CN

5.0
Apr 2, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Its what you make of it. Good union job with good benefits

Cons

You're always waiting on trains.

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CN Response
2mo
Thank you for your feedback and for your hard work. We pride ourselves on providing our team members with great benefits. We thank you for moving our business and the economy forward. Please share your thoughts with your manager and on your regular Interaction surveys.
4.0
Apr 13, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Pays decently well for first job out of college. My manager and team are very reasonable with expectations placed on new hires. Working after office hours (past 4:30pm) is extremely rare and only expected in emergencies.

Cons

Very slow and/or limited job growth potential. Promotions into middle management are almost purely based on reputation with middle managers who are largely people with previous field experience. This is very disadvantageous to direct-from-college hires like myself and even my current manager.

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CN Response
2mo
Thank you for your feedback and for your hard work. We pride ourselves on providing our team members with great pay. With a 24/7/365 operation CN could not function without its dedicated employees. We thank you for moving our business and the economy forward. Remember to leverage your development plan to have career discussions with your leader and please share your thoughts on your regular Interaction surveys.
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