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 30 reviews)); "The established culture is great and growing with each month." ((in 23 reviews)); "Amazing colleagues and company mission." ((in 10 reviews)); "Casual and friendly work environment" ((in 9 reviews)); "Amazing culture, friendly people, awesome managers!" ((in 4 reviews))

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

"Almost no real management and no leadership." ((in 11 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 6 reviews)); "Disorganized, no vision, upper management is terrible" ((in 6 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

Aug 28, 2024

Cannot Recommend

Director

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

- Pay is pretty good even without/before the stock (which is not worth much anyway) - Facilities are very good, wide range of equipment and technical capabilities

Cons

- Company leadership is a train wreck. They do not seem to have any ideas what they're doing beyond parroting what they read in a book by Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos or something. - Major organizational decisions frequently made with no forethought nor follow-up. - Culture has taken a nosedive since layoffs and continues to plummet. Leadership demonstrates willful ignorance to feedback on the problems. - There is a streak of over confidence bordering on arrogance within Ginkgo that results in a lot of distrust, infighting, and wastes of time.

1.0

Jun 15, 2023

N/A

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Layers of reporting structure. Make you have many people to talk to

Cons

Meaning less work. Do not know where we are heading.

2.0

Feb 28, 2023

Disorganized

Senior engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

It’s growing so if you are someone that thrives in chaos and are a go-getter you can definitely take advantage of the opportunities

Cons

Bad management, immature organization is disorganized for the size. Poor planning on how to integrate all the different business units without any understanding of how real businesses operate. This is probably one of the worst work places I have ever been at and I’m not sure how much longer I will last.

Viewing 16 - 18 of 189 Reviews

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