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?

"The people are great and having a role in biomedical research is rewarding" ((in 139 reviews)); "Benefits are great and as expected" ((in 125 reviews)); "Flexible and good work/life balance" ((in 73 reviews)); "Great lab and colleagues." ((in 58 reviews)); "Great opportunity to be mentored and grow as a scientist" ((in 50 reviews))

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

"Low salaries and lack of benefit." ((in 75 reviews)); "can become repetitive, sometime poor management, same activity repeated," ((in 28 reviews)); "Corrupt leadership, erosion of standards" ((in 13 reviews)); "Lots of bureaucracy and red tape to navigate" ((in 12 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

Company ratings over time

Ratings trend for the last 6 months (2,341 reviews)

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

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).

Reviews by job title

2K reviews

2.0

Nov 18, 2019

Great job though management creates toxic environment

Purchasing agent

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Benefits, job security, training, hours are nice and ability to telework.

Cons

Poor upper management, Low pay compared to private sector, no career development. No matter how hard you work you will get a low rating for review unless you are good friends with your manager. They limit how many employees can get above an average review and generally the higher ratings are given to managers and close friends.

1.0

Oct 29, 2019

Maintenance Mechanic

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Constant pay check every two weeks.

Cons

This is by far the worst place I've ever worked during my 28 years of Federal Service. Upper Management is totally clueless and does not care about the workers.

3.0

Oct 9, 2019

entirely institute dependent

Clinical fellow

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

NIH as a whole has a great culture, lovely campus, and good benefits, and I hear from other fellows in other training programs how happy they are

Cons

Certain institutes can have very toxic cultures toward trainees

Viewing 112 - 114 of 2,341 Reviews

Top companies for "Compensation and Benefits" near you

Johnson & Johnson

4.1★Compensation & Benefits

Pfizer

3.7★Compensation & Benefits

GSK

3.9★Compensation & Benefits

Merck

4.1★Compensation & Benefits

Jobs at NIH

Computational Biologist

Postbaccalaureate Fellow

Postbaccalaureate fellow (NIEHS)

United States

View job

NIH

NIH reviews

Company ratings over time

Ratings by demographic groups

Reviews by job title

Great job though management creates toxic environment

Maintenance Mechanic

entirely institute dependent

Top companies for "Compensation and Benefits" near you

Jobs at NIH

NIH reviews FAQs

Want the inside scoop on your own company?

Bowls

Followed companies

Job searches

Company ratings over time

Top companies for "Compensation and Benefits" near you

NIH reviews FAQs

Jobs at NIH