Don't do it under any circumstances! - Anonymous employee CPKC Employee Review

1.0
Mar 15, 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

There aren't many positive things about this company beyond the great people in the trenches at the Minneapolis office. The CIO is already sending messages to the staff communicating how tight 2016 will be, in other words, work harder for no salary increase or bonus pay!

Cons

Poor leadership at senior management level makes successful performance difficult at best. The mantra is do more with less and don't make any mistakes while you are working 10 - 14 hour days or you will have to meet with the CIO to explain why you made the mistake. Consequence Leadership is the newest management program to improve employee performance, there are positive and negative consequences to our performance. The annual performance review process is very subjective and communicated to the employee in a letter from HR. Everyone, no matter the job you were hired into, is required to be a conductor and work the rail yard and mistakes in the rail yard can cause you to lose the job you were hired to do. There is no career path and HR keeps the pay ranges secret even from managers and good luck getting information about railroad retirement benefits.

Explore other reviews about CPKC

5.0
Dec 20, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great pay, and benefits, good environment,

Cons

First 3-5 years stressful until you get familiar and understand how railroads work.

1
2.0
May 29, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Lots of opportunities to provide value

Cons

Poor leadership at the C-level. CIO has no control over the direction of the IT landscape beyond what is dictated to her by the CEO and other business owners. The IT environment is almost solely controlled by the demands of the business at the cost of being able to manage and adapt to needs. 20 years behind the market in the adoption of cloud technology. Existing cloud strategy was built by engineers pressed into the role of architects and learning as they progressed along. No automation or DevOps presence whatsoever outside what the platform teams use to simplify their own workloads. Remote work is considered a 4-letter word and is extremely frowned upon as anything other than an as-needed and pre-approved option. Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery are still done using backups and shadow copies of key infrastructure, and those key systems are decided upon at the time the tests are planned instead of testing the company's infrastructure in its entirety. Data centers are geographically separated, but are significantly disparate in what is physically hosted and accessible. Recognition and rewards are overtly encouraged, but are covertly handed out based on the level of visibility and impact to the business and stakeholders. Senior leadership constantly touts open-door policy and approachability, but give off vibes and impressions opposite of the overt policy. The company puts on a show of being diverse and inclusive. Case in point, the hiring of a female CIO. The problem is that working within an 'old boys network' leadership, it doesn't matter how inclusive and diverse the company appears because those elements are never given the opportunity to show their value.

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