"Feel Sorry for the Refugees in our World" - Anonymous employee UNHCR Employee Review

1.0
15 Aug 2017
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You are in the big apple, so lots to do in the city Appealing organizational mandate Brand image Diverse and multicultural workforce

Cons

The most bureaucratic and politically charged agency to work tainted by utmost personal greed and self-preservation. -Old School management: mostly senior (55+) work force which is coasting to collect pensions with lack of any real world awareness or drive to improve/ learn new skills. -Decision Making is just theme of 'what's for our next meeting or hold it to the next until it falls or is forgotten.' When it's time for policy change then keep waiting and hoping.. -Very sad to witness the prevalent world class system in such humanitarian organizations - International Professionals (IP) pose as masters of the local (General) staff across the globe. Let alone the salary and benefits gap!! Consultants are treated worst, unless you are a retiree returned as a consultant to further "milk" the system. -Performance management is worst and People managers deliberately give outstanding ratings to non-performers hoping to pass their problem to someone else. While those who are in the field are the forgotten especially if you are a local staff then here comes the nightmare of being appreciated for the tough task you are doing whilst managers are sitting all days behind their desks clueless of what is going on ground. -Career growth: WHO you know, not WHAT you know! Circumventing the system to promote ethnic affiliations and nepotism often consistently overlooked. -Accreditation of Qualifications: PHD from an unheard of country has more weight than a Masters from Harvard. So having a Director with double PHD's and not knowing how to operate an ATM machine is not uncommon. -Globally Decentralized: each country, region & HQ has their own HR, Ops, Finance, Admin, program leads and budgets. Thus no synergies, economies of scale, best practices sharing or cross training for capacity development. -Politics and Egos: The bigger the title the more inaccessible the employee.

Explore other reviews about UNHCR

5.0
3 Nov 2024
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Best Mandate to see people of Concerns benefit. opportunity to be in an international team

Cons

instability of employment contract and job opportunities

3.0
7 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good benefits, you really do help people

Cons

Human Resources takes a highly specialized approach to talent management. In that you cannot really change functions easily in UNHCR. You have to hyper-specialize in one area. So if you are a protection staff, you tend to burn out from trauma without an internal mechanism to alleviate the burnout. The higher you go in UNHCR, the crazier you become.

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