Great place to work, but not to make money - Anonymous employee RTI International Employee Review

5.0
Sep 2, 2010
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Very good benefits (good insurance and retirement schemes, great vacation) - Excellent facilities (campus is generally new, spacious, and constantly being improved. Fairly new gym on-site) - Generally friendly and relaxed but productive working atmosphere - High quality staff (from my limited experience there were some very impressive people there) - Those in the field seem to be impressed with my having spent time there - Meritocratic promotion (to a point - see cons below) - Organization has performed very well in recent years, so there is a lot of growth

Cons

- Salaries are generally low. Don't expect a bonus to make up for it either - Structure is very hierarchical, based largely on academic qualifications. There is room for promotion and growth, but you may hit a glass ceiling fairly quickly. The only way past is to get the next degree up the scale.

Explore other reviews about RTI International

5.0
Jun 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

RTI has a good mission

Cons

Adaptation to sudden federal funding loss.

3.0
Jun 15, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Remote work and reasonable working hours

Cons

If you're a PhD who enjoys research and hopes to use empirical research skills at a research institute, you'll likely be disappointed as I was. Projects in my business unit were largely implementation projects that required very little creativity or data analysis. I was told by my manager that empirical-research projects are harder to come by and when those opportunities do arise, everyone wants them. Even then, project directors are very unwilling (in my experience) to let you branch out to other projects. Using any overhead time to work on your own research is also discouraged, so I ended up working on manuscripts in my personal time. And there's no funding to attend conferences either. On top of all of this, constant layoffs create an aura of uncertainty and the feeling that you're lucky to even be there even when compensation for similar roles in private sector is far better.

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All