{"id":7077,"date":"2019-03-08T02:13:18","date_gmt":"2019-03-08T02:13:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/?p=7077"},"modified":"2019-04-11T00:49:21","modified_gmt":"2019-04-11T00:49:21","slug":"ups-vs-fedex-culture-showdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/ups-vs-fedex-culture-showdown\/","title":{"rendered":"UPS vs. FedEx: Culture Showdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, it\u2019s two well-known air and ground delivery firms for Comparably\u2019s Culture Showdown: UPS\u00a0<\/b>vs. FedEx<\/b>. But there are big differences here. UPS\u2019 employees are unionized, most of FedEx\u2019 workers are not. UPS uses their own employees for all work, while FedEx deals often with independent contractors. UPS uses just one network for all their deliveries, while FedEx has multiple networks under their brand: FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, etc. And leadership at both companies surely have sleepness nights centered on Amazon disrupting them. But how do workers at both companies feel about their jobs and they way they are treated? Let\u2019s take a look at Comparably\u2019s<\/a> wide-ranging employee-submitted data for both companies.<\/p>\n

OVERALL CULTURE<\/p>\n

\"fedex<\/p>\n

FedEx beats UPS for overall culture by a relatively slim margin, 72-64.<\/p>\n

A UPS<\/a> driver writes, \u201cAs a driver it’s nice to be able to make people happy and help them out if you have the time. That and you’re basically your own boss when you’re behind the wheel delivering.\u201d <\/b>Another driver says,\u00a0\u201cPeople come and go all the time but all of us full time drivers are like family. We grow old together as we complete the daily mission year after year.<\/strong><\/b>\u201d Another employee would like to see \u201ca better work\/life balance. Less than a 12-14 hour day.<\/b>\u201d<\/p>\n

About working for FedEx<\/a>, employees write that \u201cthe culture has always been people, service, product<\/b>\u201d and \u201cIt’s fast paced. You always have help. It is a home away from home.\u201d <\/b>Another pines a bit for the company culture of the past, suggesting that things are changing for the worse: \u201cThere was a time when we had bowling leagues, golf leagues and other team building activities. No one in management is supporting this.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

CEO & LEADERSHIP<\/p>\n

\"fedex<\/p>\n

FedEx\u2019s Frederick Smith fairly trounces UPS chief exec David Abney, winning by 21 points.<\/p>\n

About the leadership at UPS, one employee complains that \u201ccommunication and employee satisfaction needs to improve.\u201d\u00a0<\/b>Another says leadership should be stricter about \u201cfiring people for throwing people’s packages! It’s supposed to be an automatic termination, but none of the managers or upper management do anything about people doing it!\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

FedEx leadership is\u00a0\u201cfair but firm,\u201d <\/b>according to one worker.\u201cThey set expectations then allow you to proceed without micromanaging.\u201d <\/b>Another says that management needs to\u201cEradicate the \u2018old boys club\u2019 mentality so that there is less hostility and silo management.\u201d <\/b>Another says,\u201cThey try to keep us updated with meetings, although it’s hard because I work nights and do not see the center manager often.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

COMPENSATION<\/p>\n

\"fedex<\/p>\n

UPS wins here, beating FedEx\u2019s Compensation score by five percentage points.<\/p>\n

One employee says UPS offers \u201cgreat pay<\/b>.\u201d Another calls the company\u2019s compensation \u201ca fair day\u2019s work for a fair day\u2019s pay.<\/b>\u201d Dissenting voices include one employee who writes, \u201cThey underpay everyone. The cost per package is literally .12 to .40 cents and we’re paying people $50.00 to unload four 45ft. trailers in 3.5 hours.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

From FedEx, one worker writes that they are “happy with the pay and the 401k plan with company contributions.”<\/b> Another is thankful for the “opportunity to earn additional salary and OT pay if you work hard enough.” <\/b>A third writes that “the pay is not enough for what we do and all the hours worked.”<\/b><\/p>\n

PERKS & BENEFITS<\/p>\n

\"fedex<\/p>\n

Neither shipping company scored particualrly high, with UPS squeaking out another win by two points, 61-59.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a full time driver, my benefits include health insurance, life insurance, two weeks vacation plus additional paid days off and family leave if necessary. The benefits are very nice but they come at a cost. Usually long hours and often very physically demanding. Overall, if you can handle hard work, it is a worthwhile trade off,\u201d\u00a0<\/b>writes one helpful UPS employee. Another writes that they love that they are \u201cgetting paid to stay fit.\u201d <\/b>A third says,\u00a0\u201cAfter one year you are eligible for healthcare benefits. A stock purchasing program is available at a 10% discount to employees.\u201d<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n

From FedEx, one employee writes,\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re an airline, so we have benefits with other airlines and hotels. We also get corporate discounts with Verizon, AT&T and Sprint.\u201d <\/b>Another writes, however, that \u201cdrivers have no benefits. They are not considered FedEx employees.<\/b>\u201d An employee from Operations writes that at his level he gets \u201chealth insuarance and retirement compensation.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

GENDER<\/p>\n

\"fedex<\/p>\n

FedEx takes the lead again with a 9-point win for Gender.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis industry is male dominated. Women make up 5% of operations,\u201d <\/strong><\/b>writes one UPS employee.<\/p>\n

While FedEx won, a few comments suggest there is still room for improvement: \u201cThe leadership team needs to treat women equally,\u201d<\/b>and \u2013 most stridently \u2013 \u201cFedEx does not have a place for women.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

DIVERSITY<\/p>\n

\"fedex<\/p>\n

FedEx also wins for their Diversity, beating UPS by six points.<\/p>\n

A UPS worker says the company hires \u201cVast diversity. Big, small, male, female, all races, all religions, sexual orientation, old, young and physical disabled.\u201d<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n

FedEx\u2019s work force holds\u00a0\u201ca lot of diversity,\u201d <\/b>according to our final employee commentator.\u00a0\u201cAll types of different people and cultures.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, it\u2019s two well-known air and ground delivery firms for Comparably\u2019s Culture Showdown: UPS\u00a0vs. FedEx. But there are big differences here. UPS\u2019 employees are unionized, most of FedEx\u2019 workers are not. UPS uses their own employees for all work, while FedEx deals often with independent contractors. UPS uses just one network for all their deliveries, … Read full-story <\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":7086,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,4,3],"tags":[11,387,386],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7077"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7077"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7077\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7961,"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7077\/revisions\/7961"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}