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Ginkgo BioWorks

Is this your company?

From phenomenal to dismal - Senior Scientist Ginkgo BioWorks Employee Review

2.0
Jun 7, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Technical teams are exceptionally smart, humble, collaborative - Can vary team by team, but my team has good work-life balance and PTO - While the execution has been rough, I still feel strongly positive about the mission Ginkgo has pursued, as difficult as it might be. I think their "hearts" are in the right place, but they just don't know how to run a business that doesn't have a seemingly endless of VC money funding every whim.

Cons

- Executive team is looking at employee fob records to see how frequently people are onsite, before there was any onsite mandate. This does not seem like a good priority given our current need for more projects, not more time onsite, and it seems like a wildly impractical use of CEO time. - Executive team is full of people who have never worked anywhere else. They're constantly pivoting, trying to save a sinking ship, and we have to change direction with them every month or two. Then we get criticized for taking too much time to completely rework what we're doing to fit the new pivot/process. - Most people I know got <1% raises this year. Couple that with the low stock price, and our total effective comp is down significantly from a couple of years ago. - All promotions appear to be effectively on pause. - Leaders who made awful deals and acquisitions got a golden parachute, and we're left to deal with hundreds of millions in liabilities. There's no verbal acknowledgement that a lot of our current state of uncertainty is due to these deals we had no control over. - Project volume keeps falling, so management keeps pushing for more and more cost savings. I spend so, so much of my time switching to new systems because we've ditched old ones for cost savings purposes.

Explore other reviews about Ginkgo BioWorks

5.0
Jun 2, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

a hands-off management style and a flexible work environment that promotes autonomy and trust

Cons

Occasional overtime may be required, but that is common in most workplaces

2.0
Jun 27, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Exciting, diverse projects. Excellent coworkers.

Cons

The company has been downsizing since I was hired, and everyone is perpetually terrified of losing their jobs.

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