Does Charles River Laboratories pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Charles River Laboratories employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.0 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Charles River Laboratories. This rating has been stable over the past 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Charles River Laboratories?

49% of Charles River Laboratories employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Charles River Laboratories 3.2 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.2 for culture and values and 3.1 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Charles River Laboratories?

Lab Technician (78) , Scientist (69) , Animal Care Technician (65) , Research Technician (55) , Technician (52) , Analyst (51) , Research Associate (46) , Research Scientist (42) , Supervisor (37) , Research Assistant (36) , Laboratory Technician (31) , Study Director (27) , Project Manager (25) , Manager (22) , Associate Scientist (20)

What are the pros of working at Charles River Laboratories according to real employee reviews?

"The ability to move around within the company is relatively good and the benefits are good." ((in 240 reviews)); "Great people you work with and a relatively easy job with very easy to understand ladder to climb." ((in 170 reviews)); "Great people and team to work with" ((in 46 reviews)); "Great Coworkers (for the most part)" ((in 44 reviews)); "Flexible hours available" ((in 40 reviews))

What are the cons of working at Charles River Laboratories according to real employee reviews?

"sites are disorganized and pay is low" ((in 179 reviews)); "Management is poor and people who are in charge lack knowledge of CDMO" ((in 172 reviews)); "The low salary also makes it hard to subsequently ask for more at another company." ((in 116 reviews)); "upper management is awful, lots of work to do which overwhelms people easily." ((in 35 reviews)); "poor leadership and refuses to take responsibility" ((in 32 reviews))

What are employees saying about Charles River Laboratories layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about Charles River Laboratories layoffs and their outlook for job security at Charles River Laboratories in 2026.

What are the top reviewed Charles River Laboratories locations?

Wilmington , Mattawan , Reno , Ashland , Horsham , Shrewsbury , Memphis , Boston , Charleston , Worcester , Chicago , Bethesda , Raleigh , South San Francisco , Malvern , Wayne , Cambridge , Skokie , San Diego , Rockville , Morrisville , Newark , Frederick , Philadelphia , Spencerville , Kalamazoo , Wilmington , Durham , Kingston , Catskill

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Charles River Laboratories

Charles River Laboratories reviews

3.1

49% would recommend to a friend

(2,373 total reviews)

Birgit Girshick

64% approve of CEO

32% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

3.7

Diversity & inclusion

3.2

Culture & values

3.2

Work/Life balance

3.1

Career opportunities

3.0

Compensation and benefits

2.7

Senior management

Charles River Laboratories has an employee rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars, based on 2,373 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Charles River Laboratories employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology industry (3.5 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

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Parent or family caregiver

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Reviews by job title

2K reviews

1.0

Nov 25, 2015

0 Stars

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Only adding one star because I couldn't proceed without it.

Cons

Out of touch executive team, nepotism, management team that shouldn't be in the roles they are in.

5.0

Nov 19, 2015

Great Company

Laboratory technician

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Overall great company, very supportive, pay is decent for the work being performed. They are constantly having you do online training to maintain high standards. They offer to pay for your AALAS exam and give you a bonus for each certification you get.

Cons

I was contracted out to a site in Thousand Oaks, to say the least we were not welcomed as we would have liked. There was major communication problems with the contact site employees and The CRL employees, somehow we always got the blame. As time went on management changed and communication improved slightly. You should expect to work at least one weekend out of the month, and some holidays. There's not very much room to grow in this particular position unless you're willing to relocate and even at that you will not move up very much.

4.0

Nov 9, 2015

Member of IT

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Great company to work for: flexible schedules to some extent, Summer Breeze (!), Company gatherings and CSR activities.

Cons

There were a lot of folks in IT that worked very hard, often long hours and Saturdays. Very stressful at times.

Viewing 2239 - 2241 of 2,373 Reviews

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Warehouse/Inventory Associate

Archives Support - Temporary

Animal Care Associate (EG)

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Great Company

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