teller

client services specialist

personal banker

branch manager

bank clerk

Umpqua Bank

Specifically for the Clarkston branch - the management and coworkers are exceptional, potentially the best branch to work for in this whole bank. The rest of Umpqua Bank's culture is an unbearable corporate hellscape. They will not care about your personal development unless it is beneficial to them and while "you're the one that makes a difference", they do not look at you as anything other than a number. Policies constantly change (as they do in banks) and it's a fast paced, somewhat high stakes environment. If you're someone that enjoys learning and does not know much about finances, I would highly recommend working for a bank or credit union, just not this one. Raises and promotions are extremely hard to get. While there are multiple tiers for positions, in the whole 3 years I worked for Umpqua I received one promotion and one 3.5% raise. This is very normal within the company as managers are given a budget that they can't exceed. Climbing the ladder is made nearly unachievable. After devoting my 9-5 life to this job and giving it my all to benefit both my personal and career development for over 3 years, I was let go as the bank decided my position was not necessary for my branch's operation. We recently merged with Columbia Bank and after consolidations between branch's happened, they are letting go of frontline associates from more than 30 branches after having eliminated hundreds of back office positions. I wouldn't be surprised if they undergo an acquisition from another bank looking to expand their footprint as their stock prices have been steadily dropping since the merge in March 2023. If you want to work for a bank that does not care about it's employees and is willing to get rid of small positions who "make or break our clients relationships", then Umpqua Bank is the bank for you!

I worked or this bank for almost a year. This was definitely a "I'll scratch your back, you scratch my back" organization. I witnessed managers doing completely illegal and unethical things.. forging documents, changing dates, giving out information to those who shouldn't have access to it... but nothing was ever done because of relationships with upper management. Managers would delegate most of their duties to others so they could be free to take personal calls all day or sit on the computer, then come to work late and leave early. They would take excessive "vacation" days and claim to make them up by coming in to work on Saturday (branch is closed on Saturday!). My co-worker reached out to corporate to try to have something done... and was mysteriously terminated just a few days later. The manager never re-hired anyone to fill the open position... just expected me to take on all of their duties myself. I couldn't keep up with trying to juggle two different position's duties, nor was i ever compensated for being forced to do so. How can one go out and market and meet potential clients when you have no one in the branch to help the walk in customers? I expressed concern for months and asked them to please hire someone to fill the open position, however they never did. I was ultimately let go for not being able to fulfill my duties. I fought this with my states labor board and they they sided with me. Its very rare to find anyone working there that has been there over a years time... unless they are best friends or relatives with upper management. In less then a year, I saw 8 different employees in a single branch. One employee left simply because the manager thought the employee was prettier then her and kept harassing her about her clothes she wore.. even though everything she wore was straight out of the employee handbook and didn't reveal or show anything. Just very very poor management on branch, area, and corporate levels. This is not a place you will be able to grow and move up in. If your looking for a job to get you by until you find the next better thing.. sure.

It's always a busy day, which is awesome if you like to be doing something all the time, and they like to promote internally so if you want to switch positions, there is always something available. There comes the downside, turnover is atrocious. There is a constant cycle of new people in the lower positions, but that leaves a lot of mistakes and more work to be done for the more seasoned employees. They are patient about training and coming into your role, because it takes a few weeks to a month to hire anyone, and once you know a system they don't want to lose you. There is job security in that they don't ever want to lose a trained employee. Systems are very outdated and don't communicate with each other, leaving a ton of work if you're in a processing role. Procedures are constantly changing under the guise of security, but oftentimes don't make sense for the function they're supposed to serve, making managing changes difficult both for employees and clients. It's impossible to get more that a 2% raise by staying in your position, and salary caps are low, comparable to the local industry. Management is poor, they bring on and keep managers from merging banks that have failed, or other banks that have let go of their managers - so you get a lot of "experienced" types that don't do well at standing by or up for their employees. Corporate is a nightmare, never greeting anyone below the highest managers when they visit locations and keeping higher raises under lock and key. I recommend it for getting your foot in the door with data entry and some banking experience, but if you're looking for the next step in your current banking career, I would look elsewhere. 

Summary - Over-worked and understaffed from line to staff areas in the organization with every department experiencing management shortcomings and lack of training. Serious lack of planning during the merger with Columbia caused most associates to be constantly stressed and without more than a weekly email keeping us posted for any changes to procedure, technology or org structure . No new trainings, meetings or other notifications given before entire teams were overhauled. 

What I learned - Managers will talk a lot about being a "team", then drop you flat when things hit the fan.

Management - Read above. Management is not there for associates across the organization. Blame shifting or just flat out lack of any communication is the basic mode. When someone is close to your level on the org chart, they are kind but the moment they get promoted above you, look out, there may be a knife headed for your back. Kindness isn't a value here; its a mask. 

Workplace culture - See above 

Hardest part of the job - Coming to work every day, deeply caring about a job to slowly have all the joy and feeling of team-effort and self improvement sucked out by a toxic management culture. The hardest part was an email to all of us as the only way in which we were notified that 3% of our jobs would be cut across the board with the tone that these roles were "wasted money". Not long ago, we were "essential".

Most enjoyable  part of the job - Collecting a paycheck that is just low enough to keep me from being able to afford medical insurance and quality food for my family after taxes but just high enough before taxes to keep me ineligible for any kind of food or medical assistance or programs. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Receiving a paycheck and being able to apply for healthcare only working 20 hours a week.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Too many gray areas. There was never a standard operating procedure that was carried out as it should have been. There was a constant worry for you job if you accept counterfeit checks or bills. The lack of training didn't make you confident in your abilities to preform the tasks. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Cut throat, self centered and back stabbing. Constantly stressed due to the lack of employees to service the customers. Constantly stressed in not know how to confidently preform your job duties due to the lack of training, mentorship and synergistic work place mentally.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Due to tight budget constraints, only having one teller open at open, then having another open 15 minutes after open. Thinking that the drive up teller would be able to service their own customers as well as counter customers while still pushing products when people what to get in and get out. Due to the cut throat nature, no one knew how to perform more than one task creating a disorganized, chaotic atmosphere for employees and customers. From the lack of training every teller had different rules they could abide by. When questions were asked on how to improve they were met with condescending attitude.

I started out as a universal account expert taking calls in the Spokane CRC, then moved up to the loans and finally mortgage team.  The call volume is extremely high and the verification process is extremely tedious. You have very little room to make mistakes and no matter how well you perform you can still be fired for just messing up verification once (my manager told me it’s because Umpqua has been the victim of several hacks and phishing scams recently, so do with that info what you will.) It is extremely difficult to get disability accommodations here. Umpqua harps on work-life balance yet doesn’t care about their employees at all and will work you into the ground. You essentially get punished for being good at your job by being forced to help other departments and take WAY more calls - for NO increase in pay. The environment is very cold and cliquey; coworkers are rude and snobby and will throw you under the bus at any chance they get. It is cutthroat and no one helps each other…everyone has a “not my problem” attitude and looks the other way. Management is completely unsupportive and it is almost impossible to get help - you are expected to know everything. The systems are very out of date and crash near-constantly, but you will be punished for it even if it’s not your fault. The way they handled COVID was atrocious and they are extremely shady. Good luck if you have any kind of mental health issues or disability, they will make your life a living nightmare and treat you like you’re worthless.

This company was a decent place to work before the COVID pandemic, but their "response" has turned into a complete disaster. The entire call center was initially sent home to work remotely due to COVID, but management inexplicably decided to force everyone to come back into the office despite the rising case numbers.

 The orders from management often contradict themselves. They tell employees they have to stay home if they show COVID symptoms but management actually reduced the number of acceptable absences (from 12 to 8) during the height of the pandemic. 

People are being fired for COVID-related issues left and right, my team is shrinking by the day. The employee turnover is astounding. The company seems desperate to hire more people, but the employees they get don't last. This company would seemingly rather cycle through fresh employees than take care of the ones they already have. I have never seen a company talk more about "work/life balance" while actively thwarting and punishing all of their employees attempts to do so.

If you're desperate for paying work during this pandemic, you're taking your life into your own hands with UMPQUA because these people would sooner fire you than allow you to take a single extra sick day despite the worst pandemic in modern history.

Tellers are not paid nearly enough for all of the work that they're expected and required to do. With all of the procedures and sensitive information we have access to, we should be paid much more than we are.

Here's a quick summary of my day-to-day on the job, plus a few other details:
• Basically begging my manager to support me and the other tellers via spam-messaging them through teams.
• Struggling to handle getting customers in and out at a decent pace, because there's only two tellers.
• Everywhere is short staffed, yet there's a hiring freeze. Customers complain about the lack of staff and the long wait times, yet nothing is being done about it.
• Managers pick and choose what policies they uphold, and are sneaky in finding loopholes to get disliked employees "in trouble".
• Part-time employees don't get the luxury of even a somewhat consistent schedule; My schedule changes on a whim and I'm never told what it will be for the foreseeable future until the day before.

Basically, unless you're super passionate about being an underpaid teller, avoid at all costs.

Columbia Bank is growing and growing, but it feels like it is leaving its employees behind. They push how great our culture is to distract us all from the fact that we all are underpaid. Our current base salary for a loan processor is 4% lower than average and your annual raise is capped at 2% which would not even come close to $1. Not to mention, the raise for a promotion within your position is also capped at 2%. 

Management is great. Most of the time. Sometimes it feels like you are walking on eggshells. Sometimes it feels like you have the best boss ever. 

I really enjoy that we are able to work independently in this position. Overall, you are very well supported and there is ample training resources and opportunity to advance. Although the process of documentation is outdated, it is relatively easy to comprehend. The issue is getting everyone in the same page. QC members will have their own way of doing things which will affect your own quality targets. Management is not engaged in correcting this as far as I have seen.



As a whole, Columbia Bank is a great company but it is failing to reward their most valuable assets.. their employees. 

Umpqua Bank is a great company to work for. Competitive wages are offered along side an array of benefits from paid time off, sick leave, 401k matching contributions,to paid volunteer time. Umpqua prides itself on its long standing culture and dedication to the customer experience. Training and continuous education are provided on a yearly basis to keep employees up to date on the latest changes in the banking industry. Opportunities are provided to improve skills and better the employee experience. 

A typical work day is eight hours, Monday through Friday, with federal bank holidays off. management is encouraging of employees to be empowered to do their job and obtain results in an effective and ethical manner. Depending on the management style, most employees and self-directed and capable of minimal monitoring. 

Employees are encourage to provide feedback in multiple forms to executive management and provide kudos and recognition to fellow employees for a job well done. Achievements are celebrated yearly. Umpqua is also very focused on giving back to local communities through employee volunteer time and community grants. 

Overall, Umpqua Bank is a wonderful place to work for dedicated and proactive employees.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Teller 331 salaries reported	$20.07 per hour
Client services specialist 234 salaries reported	$19.90 per hour
Personal banker 200 salaries reported	$22.14 per hour
Branch manager 101 salaries reported	$26.53 per hour
Bank clerk 45 salaries reported	$19.53 per hour

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