Don't get caught in H&F's bad trade - Anonymous employee UKG Employee Review

1.0
Dec 19, 2021
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Company is going to go public, so if you get stock in your compensation, it could be a nice little pay-day.

Cons

H&F took Kronos private a while back. Kronos was a struggling company and it seems like H&F wanted to buy it, "clean up" the books, and take it public again. However, it seems like that wasn't going well for them, so they took Ultimate Software private as well with the intention of merging the two companies, because the combined value is worth more than the sum of the parts. This is what "cleaning up" the books looks like at UKG: An extreme push, especially in certain departments, to use contractors from India. In and of itself, this isn't an issue. The issue is, management is offering 2 or even 3 heads in India for every 1 in the U.S. The powers that be want to cut workforce spending to make the books look better for when they go public. At the time of the merger, Ultimate Software was at $2 billion in revenue and growing, with about half the workforce when taking into account contractors. Kronos was at $2 billion and shrinking because of poor management decisions. They decided to keep Kronos's management instead of Ultimate's because they felt Kronos's management was more experienced. The only thing they are more experienced in is making bad decisions over and over again. Management doesn't care to fix this. One town hall, when asked about the attrition, the CTO said everybody was replaceable.

Explore other reviews about UKG

5.0
Jun 10, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

great benefits, very nice people

Cons

very heavily AI focused recently

1.0
Jun 10, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Working from home and the benefits are okay, but not really any different from those in most other organizations.

Cons

Too many managers are ill-informed about how much work there is to complete. Too many meetings pull employees away from work, yet they are chastised for work-life balance. I do not want to miss a deadline, so I work extra hours but don't report them. Processes seem to change daily. People-first is all but forgotten. Customer service is the unsung hero, carrying the weight of the world but often overlooked. Unrealistic classroom times leave little to no time for Q&A. There are manager pets and clicks in the organization. "Ohana" (meaning Family) is a joke. Do not share innovations with others; they are often stolen by others who will take accolades and credit for themselves. There are egotistical managers who could use a lesson in humility. Growth is nearly impossible. Personal review is a waste of my time. The manager is going to override my ratings with their own. Just give me my review and let's get on with it. It's been all downhill since the merge. Layoffs are a constant worry.

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