Is SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory a good company to work for?

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory has an overall rating of 4.0 out of 5, based on over 404 reviews left anonymously by employees. This rating has been stable over the past 12 months. 71% of employees would recommend working at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to a friend and 68% have a positive outlook for the business. The best reviews about SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have been left by employees working as Research Associate , Intern and Staff Scientist .

Does SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.4 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. This rating has decreased by 2% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory?

71% of SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory 4.0 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.7 for culture and values and 3.3 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory?

Intern (16) , Research Associate (12) , Summer Intern (11) , Staff Scientist (10) , Staff Engineer (9) , Associate Staff Scientist (7) , Mechanical Engineer (7) , Postdoctoral Research Associate (7) , Engineer (6) , Manager (5) , Project Manager (5) , Research Assistant (5) , Software Engineer (5) , (4) , Engineering Physicist (4)

What are the pros of working at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory according to real employee reviews?

"great for people who can take initiative" ((in 61 reviews)); "It has several good benefits" ((in 30 reviews)); "work life balance is good" ((in 16 reviews)); "Friendly coworkers." ((in 10 reviews)); "As part of Stanford University, the benefits are good but the pay is on the low side." ((in 10 reviews))

What are the cons of working at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory according to real employee reviews?

"short of budget; politics, bad management" ((in 23 reviews)); "This can be due in part to the low salary offered for these non" ((in 9 reviews)); "But the leadership of the lab are a disorganized mess." ((in 7 reviews)); "capable executive managers who surround themselves with incompetent people in order to support personal agendas, and not the customer." ((in 6 reviews)); "based layoffs." ((in 6 reviews))

What are employees saying about SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory layoffs in 2026?

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

What are the top reviewed SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory locations?

Menlo Park , Palo Alto , Stanford , San Francisco , San Jose , New York , Oxford , Los Angeles , Carlsbad , Livermore , Pleasanton , San Mateo , Los Altos , Sunnyvale , Santa Rosa , Menlo , West Menlo Park

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SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory reviews

4.0

71% would recommend to a friend

(317 total reviews)

John Sarrao

71% approve of CEO

68% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.2

Diversity & inclusion

4.0

Work/Life balance

3.7

Culture & values

3.4

Compensation and benefits

3.3

Senior management

3.3

Career opportunities

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory has an employee rating of 4.0 out of 5 stars, based on 317 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Government & Public Administration industry (3.6 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

317 reviews

5.0

May 8, 2025

Working at SLAC

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

work life balance is great.

Cons

not advancing in AI/ML but has many other oppurtunities

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Response

Thank you for your review and we’re glad you’ve found the right balance between work and life at SLAC. AI/ML is playing an increasingly important role in our operations and research, from optimizing our accelerator operations to enabling edge data processing of huge data sets produced at our upgraded LCLS facility or the Legacy Survey of Space and Time at the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory. If you’re interested in contributing in this space, you can reach out to the team driving our enabling capability of Integrated Scientific & Data-Intensive Computing (see the internal Lab Strategy website for details).

5.0

Apr 18, 2025

Great place to work

Rf engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

A high-standard laboratory dedicated to excellence and a culture of respect Every effort is made to improve science

Cons

Due to a culture of self-accountability, some people may take advantage of it

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Response

Thank you for taking the time to write a review. We are glad to hear that your experience at SLAC reflects the lab’s commitment to living our core values of excellence, integrity, collaboration, creativity and respect. Accountability is an important component of our value of integrity, ensuring honesty and transparency in all that we do; if you have any concerns, we encourage you to speak with your manager or your Directorate’s HR Business Partner.

4.0

Mar 28, 2025

Good Job

Science and engineering associate i

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Good benefits, interesting project, nice colleagues.

Cons

Bad food, expensive housing, small teams

Viewing 16 - 18 of 317 Reviews

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Jobs at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Entry-Level Scientist (Q-NEXT)

Intern - Microelectronics Algorithms, Software Scaling

Intern - Transmission X-ray Microscopy, SSRL

Intern - Microelectronics Architecture/Hardware Energy Efficiency

Venture Operations Associate

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