Is MIT Lincoln Laboratory a good company to work for?

MIT Lincoln Laboratory has an overall rating of 4.4 out of 5, based on over 764 reviews left anonymously by employees. This rating has decreased by 4% over the last 12 months. 96% of employees would recommend working at MIT Lincoln Laboratory to a friend and 85% have a positive outlook for the business. The best reviews about MIT Lincoln Laboratory have been left by employees working as Summer Research Intern , Research Intern and Summer Intern .

Does MIT Lincoln Laboratory pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, MIT Lincoln Laboratory employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.9 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. This rating has decreased by 6% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at MIT Lincoln Laboratory?

96% of MIT Lincoln Laboratory employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated MIT Lincoln Laboratory 4.4 out of 5 for work life balance, 4.1 for culture and values and 4.0 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at MIT Lincoln Laboratory?

Member Of Technical Staff (36) , Technical Staff (35) , Assistant Staff (32) , Intern (31) , Associate Staff (26) , Summer Research Intern (25) , Software Engineer (23) , Summer Intern (19) , Associate Technical Staff (18) , Research Intern (14) , Assistant Technical Staff (11) , Engineer (11) , Subcontractor (9) , Administrative Assistant (8) , Information Systems Security Officer (ISSO) (8)

What are the pros of working at MIT Lincoln Laboratory according to real employee reviews?

"People that I worked with were great except for some individual from my own team." ((in 109 reviews)); "Great benefits and overall great time as an intern!" ((in 82 reviews)); "Great team and culture." ((in 20 reviews)); "Nice and smart coworkers." ((in 16 reviews)); "Excellent opportunities to learn on impactful projects." ((in 15 reviews))

What are the cons of working at MIT Lincoln Laboratory according to real employee reviews?

"Pay is low for the industry and pay raises are percentage based (3% is typical)." ((in 29 reviews)); "3%) Annual Salary." ((in 22 reviews)); "Possibilities of managers who aren't great at running projects leading to alot of frustrating days" ((in 8 reviews)); "Extra time commitments (extra hours and travel) are demanded without any compensation or warning." ((in 7 reviews)); "Flat management structure so promotions are few and far in between" ((in 6 reviews))

What are employees saying about MIT Lincoln Laboratory layoffs in 2026?

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

MIT Lincoln Laboratory reviews

4.4

96% would recommend to a friend

(510 total reviews)

Eric Evans

98% approve of CEO

85% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.4

Work/Life balance

4.2

Diversity & inclusion

4.1

Culture & values

4.0

Career opportunities

3.9

Compensation and benefits

3.7

Senior management

MIT Lincoln Laboratory has an employee rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars, based on 510 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The MIT Lincoln Laboratory employee rating is 21% above average for employers within the Aerospace & Defense industry (3.6 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

510 reviews

1.0

Feb 20, 2015

Great Image Associated with MIT, but...

Technical staff member

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

I chose MIT LL over various other opportunities due to the misleading shining image of MIT. I regretted about my selection at the first day of my job. (1) Great image, employees can say, "I work at MIT ... LL" with some inner but false pride. The fact is who cares:-), (2) Well, cannot think of anything else.

Cons

A lot, let me enumerate: (1) Poor management who enjoy criticizing/ranking people for their own ego, (2) Looks down upon other similar FFRDC like MITRE, who is doing much better than MIT LL financially, (3) Bears name of research, in fact, doing the same acquisition job as other defense companies, (4) Generates superficial ego within each employees that they are better than others, (5) Group Leaders have too much power/authority to judge an employee, for some cases, employees were treated with abuse and intimidation, with nobody to turn to, (6) It is only a good place to "have been" for normal people. Note: This was just my real experience, and the experience of many of my colleagues at the time.

MIT Lincoln Laboratory Response

11y

Thank you for taking the time to comment. We are sorry that you did not have a positive experience. Your insights will be taken under advisement.

1.0

Nov 4, 2017

Loved It Till I Hated It

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

- Your experience at the lab is heavily dependent on you group and can vary greatly but work life balance and work environment can be great, work can be very fulfilling and extremely interesting - Compensation is less than industry but can be well worth it if the work is enjoyable and work life balance is good, benefits are comparable to industry - The majority of people are incredibly smart and a pleasure to work with

Cons

- While most people are great there are instances of blatant sexism by some individuals and management turns a blind eye. - It is definitely not a meritocracy. - Your experience at the lab is determined by your group and the people on your project which change when projects start and end. Some groups have awful work life balance, managers who can’t manage and only micromanage, or other problems that lead to really high turnover. Some people at the lab are simply terrible to work with. - For years I loved MIT LL. Then I was placed on a project being led by people lacking management skills and ethics and who broke several MIT LL policies as well a couple laws and basically made the work environment terrible. - Switching groups is usually possible and how easy it is varies based on the work your looking for and what is open at the time. But definitely don’t ever let your group know you are thinking of switching groups because they can throw up obstacles if they want to keep you in the group.

MIT Lincoln Laboratory Response

8y

Thank you for your detailed comments. While we are pleased that you have observed some significant positives, we clearly missed the opportunity to fully resolve your perceived issues. Please be assured that there will not be a blind eye turned to sexism or to violations of the law or the public trust. Often there is a complexity to issues and interactions that can't be addressed in this type of forum . If you or others continue to believe that a significant issue was not addressed competently, you are encouraged to pursue that with Laboratory management and/or campus management. We appreciate your contributions while you were here and assure you that we continue to work to deserve the trust that our employees and sponsors provide us.

1.0

May 7, 2016

Lacking Diversity & Direction

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Opportunity to work amongst some of the brightest although not the most balanced.

Cons

No diversity, could be racist, no opportunity for advancement as they subcontract most of their jobs for extended periods of time. Company has no direction well at least management. Sitting in these big offices and yet are still so confused as to what they are looking for or expectations of an employee.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 510 Reviews

Jobs at MIT Lincoln Laboratory

Group Administrative Assistant

Administrative Assistant V

Group Administrative Assistant