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Ginkgo BioWorks

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Ginkgo BioWorks reviews

3.0

28% would recommend to a friend

(189 total reviews)

Jason Kelly

30% approve of CEO

12% positive business outlook

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).

Reviews by job title

189 reviews
5.0
Oct 22, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I have substantial experience in biotech but mostly in large pharma. I have to say Ginkgo is like nothing I've encountered before. If you are in large pharma now, you will be blown away by many things at Ginkgo, but especially the clarity of mission, incredibly energy, and wholly engaging culture. Get this. Ginkgo actually encourages the energetic open sharing of scientific know-how! Of course, this is the lifeblood of innovation but pharma has so stifled information sharing that it is populated by tiny silos that never link together to accomplish something big.

Cons

There are growing pains like conference room availability, etc. but management is very aware and concerned about this transition in growth. Another con could be the work/life balance but it seems like people are doing this pretty well. But you should not consider Ginkgo unless you are ready to work hard and be engaged.

2.0
Jun 7, 2025

From phenomenal to dismal

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.

3.0
Jun 26, 2024

Best Colleagues Out There, Leadership is Laughable

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

*Most wonderful, talented colleagues who make the company. Not an ounce of ego *Opportunity to have a true entrepreneurial spirit, to truly be bold and speak your mind *Work/Life Balance *Amazing platform to really do some good in the world. If you have a good manager that wants to see you succeed, go for it. Be sure to vet them out first.

Cons

*C-level leadership is corrupt and they have no business 'running' a company. (Hi, your stock is at 29 cents as of today) *CPO is incompetent and should be replaced. I have sat in meetings with her and it's scary. She's also a bully *People in HR receive promotions they have not earned due to nepotism, over people that actually perform beyond expectations *Be cautious. The people are wonderful, but this place is an absolute mess and is currently a dumpster fire. Not sure if Ginkgo will exist in 6 months even after this mass layoff

Viewing 19 - 21 of 189 Reviews

Glassdoor has 242 Ginkgo BioWorks reviews submitted anonymously by Ginkgo BioWorks employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Ginkgo BioWorks is right for you.