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      MIT Lincoln Laboratory

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      MIT Lincoln Laboratory reviews

      Best used as a resume builder unless you have a doctorate - Anonymous employee MIT Lincoln Laboratory Employee Review

      3.0
      Feb 1, 2016
      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      5% defined contribution + 5% 401k match + 4 weeks vacation + decent benefits package. Lincoln Scholars program pays tuition and salary to go to school full time. Able to move between groups to find more interesting and challenging work. Opportunities for very interesting work, but you have to seek them out. Depending on the group, can enjoy excellent work-life balance, respect for your downtime and family life, but not everywhere in the lab.

      Cons

      Assistant staff, associate staff and staff are roughly akin to military enlisted, senior NCO and commissioned officer, with gaping chasms in between and no expectation of promotion. PhDs are burdened with responsibilities they don't necessarily want while those with lesser degrees are denied challenges they wish to take on. Performance expectations seem subjective and aren't the same for everyone. Leadership across different groups and divisions can be wildly different, from excellent to incompetent to hostile. Surprisingly vast differences in the pace of technology exist between different divisions from important cutting edge research to mediocre applications engineering. Salaries are not competitive with the rest of the defense/aerospace industry.

      avatar
      MIT Lincoln Laboratory Response
      10y
      Thank you for your comments. You have clearly put a lot of thought into this. Lincoln Laboratory has traditionally been a fairly flat organization. That has reduced administration and minimized the layers of management that one has to go through to get decisions made. In recent years, there has been more interest expressed in the type of tiered approach that you describe. This is being studied and will be fully assessed. Your comparisons to military officers and enlisted personnel are not fully inaccurate but do not convey the intent of the organization. If you have encountered incompetent or hostile management, I sincerely hope that you are pointing that out to appropriate contacts, including HR. There are behaviors that are not permissible on any employee's part, including managers. We appreciate your long service at the Lab and your insights.

      Explore other reviews about MIT Lincoln Laboratory

      5.0
      Jun 3, 2026
      Member of technical staff
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      It can vary a lot from group to group, but in general, wonderful place with wonderful people and lots of interesting work going on. Excellent benefits and lots of flexibility to explore different projects.

      Cons

      Little opportunity for advancement in terms of rank and compensation once you reach technical staff. Additionally (again varies from group to group) expectations of what a staff member does can be unclear and there can be a light sink-or-swim nature to the work, again depending on the group you're in.

      4.0
      Jun 17, 2026
      Member of technical staff
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Worked with some of the smartest people I’ve ever known. Great opportunities to learn from your coworkers and an atmosphere that encourages learning, including a well-run technical education program. Fabulous support staff and technicians that can get seemingly impossible things done quickly. Great resources and lab spaces (if a bit dated). The nature of the work encourages good work/life balance. Fantastic benefits (though the pay is low).

      Cons

      No/limited opportunities for advancement makes this a hard place to work mid-career. Good engineers are promoted to be mediocre managers. Every program is under-funded, under-staffed, and over schedule. Bad managers are shuffled around but rarely fired.

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