Does Norfolk Southern pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Norfolk Southern employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.5 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Norfolk Southern. This rating has improved by 3% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Norfolk Southern?

36% of Norfolk Southern employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Norfolk Southern 2.1 out of 5 for work life balance, 2.4 for culture and values and 2.9 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Norfolk Southern?

Railroad Conductor (202) , Conductor (98) , Locomotive Engineer (59) , Freight Conductor (43) , Engineer (37) , Signal Maintainer (35) , Trainmaster (33) , Intern (29) , Electrician (26) , Machinist (26) , Manager (24) , Train Dispatcher (24) , Train Conductor (19) , Operations Supervisor (18) , Management Trainee (15)

What are the pros of working at Norfolk Southern according to real employee reviews?

"Pay is good but you are paid for the on call lifestyle and selling your life way for a paycheck." ((in 381 reviews)); "Good benefits and ability to promote within" ((in 307 reviews)); "Great retirement and pension plan." ((in 90 reviews)); "The people were great and very welcoming." ((in 86 reviews)); "good money and enough to support family" ((in 54 reviews))

What are the cons of working at Norfolk Southern according to real employee reviews?

"Poor management, have to pay for parking, having to bid on jobs" ((in 162 reviews)); "No work life balance and always short staffed" ((in 127 reviews)); "hours are long and boring" ((in 82 reviews)); "CEO and upper management are horrible." ((in 45 reviews)); "Cannabalism is the corporate culture." ((in 31 reviews))

What are employees saying about Norfolk Southern redundancies in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about Norfolk Southern redundancy and their outlook for job security at Norfolk Southern in 2026.

What are the top reviewed Norfolk Southern locations?

Cockfosters , Manchester , York

Norfolk Southern Reviews

2.9

36% would recommend to a friend

(1,913 total reviews)

Mark George

31% approve of CEO

27% positive business outlook

Company ratings over time

Ratings trend for the last 6 months (1,913 reviews)

Ratings by demographic groups

Ethnic group

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Norfolk Southern has an employee rating of 2.9 out of 5 stars, based on 1,913 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The Norfolk Southern employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Transportation and logistics industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

2K reviews

4.0

3 Jul 2026

Strong security and benefits but outdated tools

Systems administrator

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

The organization maintains a high level of security, offers a competitive benefits package, and fosters a close-knit corporate culture.

Cons

The work utilized very ancient tools, and all processes were decentralized.

3.0

1 Jul 2026

Flexible teams with nice colleagues, but toxic management issues

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

Depending on the team you are in, it can be very flexible, and you’ll be working with nice people.

Cons

HR needs to step in more, they are supposed to set a precedent yet it seems like the higher ups in different departments actually set the expectations. Which can be toxic, and some managers clearly don’t know how to manage teams. HR seems to be a nice and fun department, but the rest of the company has lackluster reviews. Also, stop advertising a total rewards package to new hires when you need to work over fiver years to get some benefits and due to the merger they won’t actually get that package. Just raise your base salaries.

3.0

30 Jun 2026

Good benefits but low pay and challenging management

Systems analyst

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

Offers good benefits after 5 yrs.

Cons

Less pay as a permanent full time employee. Lots of work. Some Teams have the worst Directors that are very selfish.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 1,913 Reviews

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Jobs at Norfolk Southern

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Cincinnati, OH

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