Does Oak Ridge National Laboratory pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Oak Ridge National Laboratory employees rate their compensation and benefits as 4.1 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This rating has been stable over the past 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Oak Ridge National Laboratory?

80% of Oak Ridge National Laboratory employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Oak Ridge National Laboratory 4.0 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.7 for culture and values and 3.9 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Oak Ridge National Laboratory?

Postdoctoral Research Associate (101) , Intern (41) , Research Scientist (26) , Postdoctoral Researcher (22) , R&D Staff (20) , Engineer (17) , Graduate Research Assistant (16) , Postdoctoral Fellow (16) , Research Associate (16) , Internship (13) , Administrative Assistant (12) , Post Doctoral Research Associate (11) , Research Assistant (10) , Researcher (9) , Software Engineer (8)

What are the pros of working at Oak Ridge National Laboratory according to real employee reviews?

"Great people worked here and really wanted to see my growth during my time at the company." ((in 79 reviews)); "Great benefits with existing pension plan" ((in 63 reviews)); "Good pay in a low cost" ((in 44 reviews)); "Salaries are good and cost of living is low." ((in 32 reviews)); "There is also a good work/life balance" ((in 31 reviews))

What are the cons of working at Oak Ridge National Laboratory according to real employee reviews?

"seniors never come to work, poor management, emails are answered after many reminders" ((in 30 reviews)); "Upper management is completely out of touch with researchers." ((in 15 reviews)); "This ultimately shows in projects and even entire lab divisions which are unwittingly sabotaged by senior leadership's behavior." ((in 12 reviews)); "Very bad managers." ((in 12 reviews)); "Senior management has almost ruined ORNL." ((in 8 reviews))

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Reviews

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4.1

80% would recommend to a friend

(789 total reviews)

Stephen Streiffer

92% approve of CEO

63% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.1

Compensation and benefits

4.0

Diversity and inclusion

4.0

Work/Life balance

3.9

Career opportunities

3.7

Culture and values

3.7

Senior management

Oak Ridge National Laboratory has an employee rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars, based on 789 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Government and public administration industry (3.6 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

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Reviews by job title

789 reviews

3.0

Jun 2, 2026

Good resume builder, but limited research freedom

Postdcotroal research associate

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

Good for your resume, opportunities to get used to government requirements

Cons

Lack of research freedom, postdocs are kind of disrespected in the system

4.0

May 9, 2026

Do not come here unless you know exactly what you want

Postdoctoral research associate

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

1. Great research facilities. The compute in terms of HPC and experimental facilities such as SNS are probably the best in the world 2. Colleagues in the lab work on a wide range of topics. Many colleagues in my experience are always enthusiastic to collaborate across different topics

Cons

1. Current funding scenario is absolutely pathetic. Senior staff and postdocs are struggling to keep themselves funded. The situation is worsened due to the exorbitant overheads that the national lab environments 2. Owing to the high overheads, universities are often more competitive for funding than national labs 3. Due to the funding factors, conversion to staff is very uncertain, especially for postdocs

5.0

May 3, 2026

Great mission and culture, but pay is so-so

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

Mission, culture, reputation, remote/hybrid, leadership, autonomy, great HR, training galore

Cons

Below industry pay, red tape, egos, old tech in areas

Viewing 1 - 3 of 789 Reviews

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Good resume builder, but limited research freedom

Do not come here unless you know exactly what you want

Great mission and culture, but pay is so-so

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