Not bad, but it could be so much better.... - Senior Financial Analyst RTI International Employee Review

3.0
Dec 8, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

RTI does a pretty good job at the whole work-life balance thing; fairly good benefits (health insurance plans and 401(k) are both pretty strong, etc.) owing to its status as a non-profit; job security is generally very good, even in times of economic uncertainty; generally a very collegial atmosphere.

Cons

Far too much management- especially senior management, most of whom don't seem to know much about the work their people actually do; little to no management support; poor coordination between the various business units; poor coordination between the academics/researchers and the support staff; when layoffs do happen, they are often targeted at lower-level positions, regardless of job performance; budget pressures in recent years have led to cuts in benefits and training; pay is uneven in that some people (typically researchers) appear to be quite well paid but other positions (typically support staff) appear to make less than market.

Explore other reviews about RTI International

5.0
Jun 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

RTI has a good mission

Cons

Adaptation to sudden federal funding loss.

3.0
Jun 15, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Remote work and reasonable working hours

Cons

If you're a PhD who enjoys research and hopes to use empirical research skills at a research institute, you'll likely be disappointed as I was. Projects in my business unit were largely implementation projects that required very little creativity or data analysis. I was told by my manager that empirical-research projects are harder to come by and when those opportunities do arise, everyone wants them. Even then, project directors are very unwilling (in my experience) to let you branch out to other projects. Using any overhead time to work on your own research is also discouraged, so I ended up working on manuscripts in my personal time. And there's no funding to attend conferences either. On top of all of this, constant layoffs create an aura of uncertainty and the feeling that you're lucky to even be there even when compensation for similar roles in private sector is far better.

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