Pathetic work/life balance, average compensation benefits. - Software Engineer UBS Employee Review

2.0
Nov 28, 2012
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You might be lucky if you are in those departments of the bank which are the basic drivers of business like Weath Management. Not much scope if you are in the investment banking dept.

Cons

Working on old and crap homegrown frameworks and technologies! Management expects you to work for 50+ hours regularly. On our team there had more managers than developers but the expectations to deliver was like they were developers too. Everyone seems to want to become a manager and no one wishes to write code. Heavens forbid if you are in the Investment Banking IT dept. The Investment Banking business as of now is a non profitable business area, so expect meagre pay raises and bonuses. Absolutely not worthy of an investment bank. Don't take up a job in the Investment Banking IT dept unless they pay you extremely well for sacrificing on a decent work/life balance working on old technologies.Full time employees in the team were leaving regularly every few months. Most of the work is done by the offshore vendors' onsite resources who are offcourse much cheaper. Mgmt had layed off a couple of full timers on the team (offcourse as a larger decision to increase shareholder wealth). Was pretty brutal. You get taken into a meeting room, are told the news and are asked to leave the premises then and there. Doesn't matter if you have been working there for 6 months or 3 years, you won't get to say good bye to your colleagues.I guess it is the "Wall Street" culture, so can't blame one company for that.

Explore other reviews about UBS

5.0
Jun 16, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good company to work for. Flexible work schedule

Cons

Nothing really. Good company to work for.

5.0
Jul 4, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

One of the biggest pros is brand value and global credibility. UBS is a top-tier global wealth management and investment bank, so having it on your resume immediately signals experience in a highly structured, regulated, and performance-driven environment. That tends to carry weight across financial services and corporate TA roles. Another major advantage is strong learning exposure. Because UBS operates across wealth management, investment banking, asset management, and corporate functions, employees usually get exposure to complex stakeholder groups, senior leadership, and high-volume, high-stakes hiring environments. For recruiting roles specifically, that often means experience with executive searches, niche skill sets, and global requisitions.

Cons

other factor is workload during restructuring cycles or market downturns. Financial services recruiting is highly market-sensitive, so hiring freezes or sudden ramps are common. That can create uncertainty or shifting priorities in requisition ownership and pipeline planning. From a career perspective, role specialization can sometimes feel narrow. While UBS is large, some employees find they become highly specialized in one function (like wealth management or a specific region), which may require intentional effort to broaden experience.

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