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Caltech (California)

Is this your company?

Was a great company to work for, but they laid me off after 12 years of good service. They have become very corporate. - Research Associate Caltech (California) Employee Review

2.0
Nov 5, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good benefits (which start the month you begin), IRA (retirement, not 401k), access to Caltech facilities like gym, recording studio, credit union, etc. Decent vacation time (starts at almost 3 weeks per year, after 5 years goes up, after 10 years goes to nearly one month per year. Some departments still use the honor code, and don't look over your shoulder as you work. Many other departments were reformatted with corporate influence. They brought people in from the corporate world to see how they could save money during the 08/09 deprecession (yes, I wrote deprecession, because it lasted too long to be a recession, but not long enough to be a depression).

Cons

The pay is abysmal. This is the trade off for being at the top of your field. Caltech is the best school in the world to study science, and working there is a great opportunity and resume builder. They just pay next to nothing, because they know that the people working there are there for the job, not the money. After they brought in the corporate consultants (people from the corporate world to tell them how to save money), they threw the honor code out the window for staff (it still applies to professors and students). Prior to this, you could take a two hour lunch and go to the gym (for free), park for free, and make up time when you didn't work your full 8 hours. That all went away, as now you have to clock in and out using Kronos, they are sticklers for the rules (you have to take your lunch before the five hour mark or you get written up). The lab I worked in had an incredible vibe when I first started working there, where everyone enjoyed their job, was excited to be a part of Caltech, and couldn't say a bad thing about working there. Once they had the corporate consultants come in (after the deprecession), the whole ,morale of the department tanked once this happened.

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5.0
Jul 3, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
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Pros

You get to interact with many smart people

Cons

Dining halls should be better

5.0
Jun 30, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I really like the people I work with. Managers promote psychological safety and follow through with their commitments . My direct managers are interested in my growth and professional development. There are a lot of affinity groups to connect with. Overall a great community to be a part of. Caltech has good benefits and even mental health counseling available for staff.

Cons

Because the campus is lightly administered/decentralized, policies can vary a lot by department, which can make things really confusing for the initial period. However, if you’re open to talking to others and making connections, it can go a long way in helping you figure out how things work on campus. Another negative is that departmental culture can vary. Working as an admin in one department may be much more difficult than in another department.

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