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MIT Lincoln Laboratory

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MIT Lincoln Laboratory - Anonymous employee MIT Lincoln Laboratory Employee Review

4.0
Oct 10, 2015
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

People are fantastic; interesting research problems; supportive culture that values innovation; work-life balance is good; family-friendly environment. did i mention the people are great?

Cons

salaries are good, but not great; government sponsors can be difficult; lots of challenging research problems = lots of concurrent/competing priorities

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MIT Lincoln Laboratory Response
10y
Thank you for taking the time to comment. We appreciate your 5+ years of service and it is nice to see that you continue to be positive about the people at the Lab. We are proud of the talent that we are able to attract and retain and we work to keep a beneficial work-life balance. Being a not-for-profit, government funded laboratory, we do have considerations in salary planning that industry does not face. We are able to be quite competitive while maintaining the governance that is necessary. In many ways we offer the best of government, academic, and industry employment, with a focus on important projects. Thanks again for your insight.

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5.0
Jun 3, 2026
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CEO approval
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Pros

It can vary a lot from group to group, but in general, wonderful place with wonderful people and lots of interesting work going on. Excellent benefits and lots of flexibility to explore different projects.

Cons

Little opportunity for advancement in terms of rank and compensation once you reach technical staff. Additionally (again varies from group to group) expectations of what a staff member does can be unclear and there can be a light sink-or-swim nature to the work, again depending on the group you're in.

4.0
Jun 17, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Worked with some of the smartest people I’ve ever known. Great opportunities to learn from your coworkers and an atmosphere that encourages learning, including a well-run technical education program. Fabulous support staff and technicians that can get seemingly impossible things done quickly. Great resources and lab spaces (if a bit dated). The nature of the work encourages good work/life balance. Fantastic benefits (though the pay is low).

Cons

No/limited opportunities for advancement makes this a hard place to work mid-career. Good engineers are promoted to be mediocre managers. Every program is under-funded, under-staffed, and over schedule. Bad managers are shuffled around but rarely fired.

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