Working at UNHCR - Anonymous employee UNHCR Employee Review

2.0
May 5, 2018
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

# of Days of Vacations Medical Insurance If you have more than 5 years there then the Pension Fund becomes a positive thing if you want to make a career there. If you work less than that time then it might be a way of saving money.

Cons

Finding an international position is difficult in particular if you are a national staff and you aren't from a developed country. Once you are an international staff your conditions are better. Even though there is an online platform to apply for positions those who have connections are the ones who are selected most of the time. ( so network, network, network) There is a big salary gap between national and international staff. They hired professionals on positions that are for people without university studies (GS categories) as a result the salary is very low. This situation happens in particular with national staff. Instead, if you have no university studies and you get a GS position then your salary might be well for you if you compared it to similar positions in other organizations. They are extremely demanding but the work conditions are poor. Violation of the rights of their employees is common. If you speak up you can get fired. Vacations - or "annual leave" as they called it- are not seen as a right. It is seen as a reward for your work. If your supervisor thinks you have not done your work then your vacations are denied or it becomes very difficult to have vacations. Workplace harassment is normalised Extremely hierarchical organization High levels of stress Unhealthy environment to work To participate on internal trainings you have to go through a selection process, being an employee does not guarantee that you will be able to participate on internal trainings. Sometimes it is difficult to be selected and in order to apply your supervisor has to agree with your candidature. In addition, you have to pay for some trainings. Your social life might be diminished or completely eliminated

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5.0
Mar 17, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

multicultural work experience open to telework from home some days better benefits for international positions and more opportunities for career growth

Cons

not easy to always have work balance, depending on the position not many opportunities for career growth for local positions

3.0
Apr 7, 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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