Does Ginkgo BioWorks pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Ginkgo BioWorks employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.4 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Ginkgo BioWorks. This rating has decreased by 1% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Ginkgo BioWorks?

28% of Ginkgo BioWorks employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Ginkgo BioWorks 3.5 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.1 for culture and values and 2.6 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Ginkgo BioWorks?

Test Engineer (10) , Director (9) , Engineer (7) , Organism Engineer (7) , Software Engineer (6) , Associate Director (5) , Medical Technologist (5) , Scientist (5) , Senior Engineer (5) , Automation Engineer (4) , Operations Engineer (4) , Fermentation Engineer (3) , Operations (3) , Organism Engineer III (3) , Program Coordinator (3)

What are the pros of working at Ginkgo BioWorks according to real employee reviews?

"great people to work with" ((in 29 reviews)); "The established culture is great and growing with each month." ((in 29 reviews)); "Amazing colleagues and company mission." ((in 9 reviews)); "Casual and friendly work environment" ((in 8 reviews)); "Hires incredibly smart individual contributors, has nice startup perks (free food, unlimited PTO, etc.), transparency and open discourse" ((in 6 reviews))

What are the cons of working at Ginkgo BioWorks according to real employee reviews?

"Poor management is everywhere and this is not an exception." ((in 10 reviews)); "Lots of insecurity with employment such as frequent layoffs." ((in 8 reviews)); "Work/life balance is challenging." ((in 7 reviews)); "Disorganized, no vision, upper management is terrible" ((in 6 reviews)); "a lot of people have left finding better pay elsewhere." ((in 4 reviews))

What are employees saying about Ginkgo BioWorks layoffs in 2026?

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

What are the top reviewed Ginkgo BioWorks locations?

Boston , West Sacramento , Cambridge , Boise , New York , Tucson , Washington , Sacramento , Emeryville , San Francisco , Seattle , Philadelphia , Worcester

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Ginkgo BioWorks

Ginkgo BioWorks reviews

3.0

28% would recommend to a friend

(189 total reviews)

Jason Kelly

30% approve of CEO

12% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

3.7

Diversity & inclusion

3.5

Work/Life balance

3.4

Compensation and benefits

3.1

Culture & values

2.6

Career opportunities

2.2

Senior management

Ginkgo BioWorks has an employee rating of 3.0 out of 5 stars, based on 189 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The Ginkgo BioWorks employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology industry (3.5 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

189 reviews

1.0

Mar 23, 2025

Wouldn't reccomend it to my worst enemy

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Snacks and great equipment. The people in the lab are awesome.

Cons

Absolutely horrendous management. Couldn't even figure out how do layoffs properly. Zero career growth, extreme favoritism. The business team is useless and has no understanding of the science being performed. The science is interesting but the expectations and timelines are unrealistic

2.0

Mar 23, 2025

Need a new leader!!

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Flexibility for work life balance. Genuine people who are very smart and generally nice.

Cons

The C-level is inexperienced, they have no clue how and where to pivot to make this a success story. All they know is cut cost, keep money in the bank and stay alive. This means letting go of people who are smart and are needed to make things happen. The current vision is “default alive” and not a growth story.

5.0

Mar 21, 2025

Great

Senior director

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Science and diversity is great

Cons

Growth is hard in current market

Viewing 37 - 39 of 189 Reviews

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Jobs at Ginkgo BioWorks

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