Lawrence Berkeley Lab reviews

Institutionalized, middle management corruption, bureaucracy, few lateral opportunities, too many meetings, salary review process

This place is run by scientists with little to no background experience in running or managing a business. This could be good or bad depending on what you do. If you are doing research, that's probably a plus for you. But as a Business/Finance professional that means there are not many opportunities to grow here. Functions in the Office of the CFO are treated by lab management as administrative annoyances - hindrances to research - rather than functions that can add value to the organization. The lab produces science, not profits, so the relative importance of Finance is diminished. To make things more difficult, because the lab is government funded, there are layers of red-tape and paperwork required of the CFO staff that makes what should be simple tasks unnecessary complicated. Researchers here don't understand these burdens and therefore just assume the CFO staff is incompetent - which is not the case. This leads to mistrust and mutual frustration. In short, if you are in a Business/Finance/Operations type function, and are looking to build a career, this is probably not the place for you. Stick to the corporate world. If you are in a later stage of your career and looking to coast into retirement, this place is probably a pretty good option.