Is NIH a good company to work for?

NIH has an overall rating of 4.1 out of 5, based on over 2,842 reviews left anonymously by employees. This rating has decreased by 3% over the last 12 months. 80% of employees would recommend working at NIH to a friend and 60% have a positive outlook for the business. The best reviews about NIH have been left by employees working as Postdoctoral Researcher , Intern and Summer Intern .

Does NIH pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, NIH employees rate their compensation and benefits as 4.0 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at NIH. This rating has decreased by 2% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at NIH?

80% of NIH employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated NIH 4.1 out of 5 for work life balance, 4.2 for culture and values and 3.9 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at NIH?

Postdoctoral Fellow (298) , Research Fellow (124) , Postbaccalaureate IRTA (103) , Staff Scientist (63) , Postdoctoral Research Fellow (40) , Intern (38) , Research Assistant (38) , Summer Intern (29) , Post-Baccalaureate Fellow (27) , Scientist (25) , Research Scientist (23) , Biologist (22) , Program Analyst (21) , Post Doctoral Fellow (20) , Visiting Fellow (20)

What are the pros of working at NIH according to real employee reviews?

"good benefits and pro." ((in 140 reviews)); "The people are great and having a role in biomedical research is rewarding" ((in 139 reviews)); "good work/life balance and super friendly teammates" ((in 81 reviews)); "Great lab and colleagues." ((in 58 reviews)); "Great opportunity to be mentored and grow as a scientist" ((in 47 reviews))

What are the cons of working at NIH according to real employee reviews?

"Low salaries and lack of benefit." ((in 78 reviews)); "can become repetitive, sometime poor management, same activity repeated," ((in 29 reviews)); ""Bad" Departments has poor leadership, micromanage and terrible behaviors unbecoming of what a manager should be." ((in 14 reviews)); "Lots of bureaucracy and red tape to navigate" ((in 13 reviews)); "Certain managers (and this is a systematic problem government wide) that focus on promotion based on "time in grade" rather than job performance." ((in 8 reviews))

What are employees saying about NIH layoffs in 2026?

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

What are the top reviewed NIH locations?

Bethesda , Rockville , Washington , Baltimore , Frederick , Durham , Gaithersburg , Silver Spring , Research Triangle Park , New York , North Bethesda , Phoenix , Raleigh , Boston , Herndon , Maryland Heights , Houston , Columbia , Bowie , Cambridge , Shady Grove , Little Falls , New Brunswick , Wayne , Princeton , Chicago , Kewanee , Annandale , Clifton , Reston

NIH reviews

4.1

80% would recommend to a friend

(2,341 total reviews)

Francis S. Collins

82% approve of CEO

60% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.2

Culture & values

4.2

Diversity & inclusion

4.1

Work/Life balance

4.0

Compensation and benefits

3.9

Career opportunities

3.8

Senior management

NIH has an employee rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars, based on 2,341 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The NIH employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology industry (3.5 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

2K reviews

2.0

Feb 25, 2012

Challenging

Human resources specialist

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Fantastic mission, If you really want to feel connected to something larger than yourself where biomedical research is on the cutting edge that could one day make breakthrough discovery, you buy into the mission.

Cons

I found the culture to be unhealthly. I worked in an administrative, operational environment. There was the formal hierarcy, but also the shadow culture where decisions are made about who gets promoted, groomed, etc. There was little opportunity to penetrate that structure. Needless to say, and an outflow of that, was a lack of diversity, i.e., there was little or no opportunity, no matter how talented you are, to get out of the operational environment.

4.0

Feb 14, 2009

Good place to do research but watch out who is your boss

Research fellow

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

better funding opportunities than somewhere else in research, many training opportunities, flexible working time

Cons

Large organization, too bureaucratic, no flexibility in terms of salary increase, no competitive place therefore some people do not work as much as in academia

4.0

Sep 7, 2008

What to Know about NIH

Clinical research nurse

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

educational opportunities, having medical information regarding drugs, conditions and diseases at your disposal interesting research, meeting people from all over the world, seeing positive results from treatments government benefits, life insurance, medical insurance, dental insurance being on a first name basis with people who are in the news

Cons

must come to work a half hour early to get a good parking place. new pay system is subjective, not objective - depends on what your boss thinks of you and the information he/she gets may be from one person a step above you who doesn't like your personality and will play up your weaknesses and play down your strengths. difficulty taking earned leave when you want to take it and before you lose it at the end of the year

Viewing 49 - 51 of 2,341 Reviews

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Jobs at NIH

Computational Biologist

Postdoctoral IRTA Position on Mucosal Immunity and Vaccine Development for Emerging Respiratory Viruses

Hamilton, MT

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NIH

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Challenging

Good place to do research but watch out who is your boss

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