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Gates Foundation

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Gates Foundation reviews

3.7

63% would recommend to a friend

(561 total reviews)
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Mark Suzman

81% approve of CEO

70% positive business outlook

Gates Foundation has an employee rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars, based on 561 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Gates Foundation employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Nonprofit & NGO industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

561 reviews
3.0
Aug 7, 2012
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

If you want to work with some of the brightest people, use the latest technology and feel like you're making a difference then this is an amazing place to work. The campus is beautiful and the benefits are exceptional. Great place for people who are self starters, who know what to do and just do it. The operations areas are among the more people-friendly areas in which to work. There is a great deal of opportunity here.

Cons

Unfortunately this is a very challenging environment. The executive management team doesn't seem to have a clue as to what the "worker bees" need to get their jobs done. Their answer is process and more process. Just when you think there can't possibly be another set of templates, another committee, another whole department with some long acronym designed to help you get stuff done... And, at the end of the day, you are just a cog in the machine. They know the work will chew you up in 2 or 3 years tops. And they don't care because there is an endless parade of wide eyed people eager to have a chance to work there. Many managers have no idea how to manage people. Don't bother complaining to HR though. HR is the department of platitudes.

3.0
Jul 26, 2012

Easy to lose perspective.

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The mission and people are inspiring. The wealth of expertise, resources and ability is sometimes staggering. The building is amazing.

Cons

A number of people in management positions are there for their subject matter expertise, not their management skills, which are often lacking. This is not the case broadly, but in pockets. The focus of upper management is changing how people work, rather than the work itself. This leads to initiative after initiative striving to fix problems that are real.

2.0
Jul 24, 2012

Intense

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great learning experience; brilliant people; focused missions and strategies; perfect for the beginning of ones career or at the end of it. Great stepping stone to further ones career.

Cons

No career opportunities; limited positions; too many changes and processes; no real work/life balance at the lower end of the food chain; good stepping stone, but nowhere to go except back to public/private sector.

Viewing 520 - 522 of 561 Reviews

Glassdoor has 699 Gates Foundation reviews submitted anonymously by Gates Foundation employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Gates Foundation is right for you.