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Lawrence Berkeley Lab

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Interesting work, Bad environment - Mechanical Technician II Lawrence Berkeley Lab Employee Review

2.0
Apr 4, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Participate in world-class projects. Good benefits. Experiences are completely different for scientists, postdocs, interns, engineers, and support staff. If you are reading reviews to get a sense of what your job might be like, ignore reviews that are not from the role you will be in.

Cons

What the person below said. Their "diversity" efforts basically involve hiring people and throwing them into the existing culture with no support and seeing who can deal with it. This dynamic is enabled by management and engineers, who are under deadline and want to keep things running smoothly at all costs. The way they create and run teams is generally dysfunctional and encourages hazing of new hires, since it is just a byproduct of the lab's unwillingness to promote or compensate experienced techs. There is also a lot of gossip due to the inconsistent workload, and a general culture of talking down on other people's work.

Explore other reviews about Lawrence Berkeley Lab

5.0
Jul 6, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great collaborative environment, great views

Cons

Some parts are slower moving due to bureaucracy but LBNL is unique in that red taping is also loose in some areas allowing for quicker innovation

3.0
Jul 13, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

work life balance; World-Class User Facilities and Instruments, Top-Tier Scientific Collaboration

Cons

Temporary Nature of Early-Career Roles: For postdoctoral researchers, positions are inherently temporary. Securing a permanent Staff Scientist role at a national lab is notoriously difficult due to limited openings and highly competitive, lifelong tenures, which often forces researchers to look externally for long-term career growth.

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