KiwiRail reviews

3.8

84% would recommend to a friend

(159 total reviews)
avatar

Peter Reidy

87% approve of CEO

53% positive business outlook

KiwiRail has an employee rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars, based on 159 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The KiwiRail employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Transportation and logistics industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

159 reviews
1.0
Dec 1, 2018

GET OUT

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Some roles pay very well for very little effort involved. No one here has ever heard of ACCOUNTABILITY HONESTY is also not required

Cons

Schizophrenic policy's and processes that would have no place in a remotely efficient and profitable business working in 2018. Very little planning ahead Awful systems in place, the two used for freight management are outdated, unintuitive, full of errors, slow and somehow getting worse every year, this is actually costing the company more than anyone can imagine. CRM NON EXISTENT ZERO ACCOUNTABILITY - accountability is the hot potato Overpaid idiots calling the shots with no operational understanding or the brainpower to find out the impact of their decision. Someone earning 50k knowing more than those on 100k working side by side doing very similar roles is a recipe for disenfranchised work forcr who tend to leave within a year or two. Challenging roles actually pay less, human capital is completely wasted. You would have to kill someone to get fired from this place, too many knuckle draggers barely making it through a working day. Deceitful and manipulative bosses tell you what you want to hear and make promises they are never in a position to keep. Opportunities are only realised for those who agree with anything and everything said, debating ideas and processes is seen as an act of aggression. The culture is awful. Responsibility's are unclear to everyone. Revenue streams are chased without consideration of the bottom line. Lost $200m+ in FY18 ( this is all public information ) When a fiscally conservative government arrives there will be some hellish days ahead for KiwiRail as corporate welfare keeps this ship afloat. ( Also public information )

2.0
Jun 20, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There are some amazing people who work at KiwiRail - They're the ones who make you want to stay. But they are heavily relied upon to make heroic efforts to keep the place running. The one thing that do take truly seriously in employee physical safety.

Cons

This place is like jumping on a timewarp and going back to the 70's - And they like it like that. Do not expect to see progression in any way, shape, or form. Expect to see managers do things to stroke their own egos including making some seriously bad decisions for the company. Like getting rid of most of their female managers. It has been noticed. The fact they are being relied upon to help meet the country's carbon goals is a joke. That would mean people would have to look at improving and not just relying on one or two employees to save the company's butt when things go wrong - because they often do.

2.0
Jul 31, 2017

the sinking ship

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Long term opportunity is "good", most of the senior/exec management are a few years away from retirement. Career development is "good" because the management pass on work so there is plenty of opportunity to experience planning/management projects. Pretty decent stepping stone to better things.

Cons

the pros listed above are double edged swords. Work life balance is non-existent, unpaid overtime is rife among the junior staff. Plenty of hard work to be done for little recognition. The current employee-employer dynamic is toxic, essentially both parties look to see how they can screw each other (the employer trying to pay the employee as little as possible and the employee trying to stick it to the man) over instead of working harmoniously to achieve the mission statement.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 159 Reviews

Glassdoor has 180 KiwiRail reviews submitted anonymously by KiwiRail employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if KiwiRail is right for you.