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 236 reviews)); "Great people you work with and a relatively easy job with very easy to understand ladder to climb." ((in 175 reviews)); "Great people and team to work with" ((in 47 reviews)); "Very interesting place to work and colleagues are great" ((in 43 reviews)); "Flexible hours available" ((in 42 reviews))

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

"sites are disorganized and pay is low" ((in 184 reviews)); "Management is poor and people who are in charge lack knowledge of CDMO" ((in 169 reviews)); "The low salary also makes it hard to subsequently ask for more at another company." ((in 116 reviews)); "A lot of managers don't know what actually occurs in their department." ((in 32 reviews)); "upper management could do better caring for the employees." ((in 31 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

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

Company ratings over time

Ratings trend for the last 6 months (2,373 reviews)

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

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).

Reviews by job title

2K reviews

3.0

Nov 9, 2014

Good for starters

Study support associate i

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Decent salary. Good benefits. Plenty of locations around the nation. Overtime pay is quite nice.

Cons

Not much opportunity for improving yourself. Hard to get promoted to a higher position or to another location (internal applications) even if the position is the same as your current one; the higher-ups offer little help in this matter. Often a shortage of staff so gotta work lot of extra time and extra work.

4.0

Nov 5, 2014

A good start in the laboratory animal field

Animal care technician i

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

You get a lot of experience. They also have good benefits like vacation time. The supervisors are flexible and understanding. Overall a great place to work in the laboratory animal field.

Cons

You have to work 2 holidays a years, but you get flex days. The work can be very physically exhausting.

1.0

Sep 18, 2014

Unprofessional place to work, no respect for employees, worst job I've ever had!

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Charles River has many great employees - many of the low to mid-level managers are great and the staff is very knowledgeable. Good place to learn.

Cons

The upper management of Charles River made this place a nightmare as an employee! The organization functions as an amalgamation of many different companies and divisions and, as such, there is a large gap in harmonization and standardization across the organization. More importantly, upper management has little to no respect for it's employees. I witnessed behavior that ranged from extreme unprofessionalism to outright abuse - it was shocking. Promotion is based on nepotism instead of merit, and challenging the status quo with new ideas or fresh perspectives is discouraged. Salaries are lower than industry standard, and incentives are spotty - in cases, incentives may not even be paid (or only paid after a long lag) even when they're earned. This is by far the worst place I've worked in my career - I would strongly recommend against working for Charles RIver!

Viewing 2278 - 2280 of 2,373 Reviews

Jobs at Charles River Laboratories

Warehouse/Inventory Associate

Associate Director Global Marketing - Biologics Testing (REMOTE)

Animal Care Technician I

Animal Care Technician I