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State of California

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State of California reviews

3.9

78% would recommend to a friend

(1,292 total reviews)

Gavin Newsom

2% approve of CEO

70% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.3

Work/Life balance

4.1

Diversity & inclusion

3.8

Career opportunities

3.6

Compensation and benefits

3.5

Culture & values

3.4

Senior management

State of California has an employee rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars, based on 1,292 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The State of California employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Government & Public Administration industry (3.6 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Reviews by job title

1K reviews
2.0
Jul 18, 2026

Fulfilling work overshadowed by poor management and cronyism

Analyst
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Work is easy, it can be fulfilling if you have purpose and you really think you are serving the public good. Friends can be lifelong, once established, the day goes easier and politics is manageable. Union, they seem a waste but when you have a documented grievance, it's all you have before it get's expensive. Retirement, what can I say, the golden handcuffs.

Cons

Management, mostly poorly educated, croneyism and nepotism is rampant. There are a few gems at all levels, but they are few and far between. Tribalism, pick a flavor and support your friends or you'll be sorry, Monsters, the micro-manager is not urban legend, but real. Hang around long enoigh and you'll encounter them, learn how to use the Union and understand it's not you but the broken system. Some managers literally believe the grievance process is part of good management. HR, basically the tool of management to support the rampant incompetence, croneyism and nepotism. HR has an underground sytem to track malcontents through their apps, it's subtle, go read between the lines. IT, you will learn to love the outdated technology Budget, a joke, it's just a placeholder to shuffle money to pet projects. If private businees budgeted this way, they'd be bankrupt overnight but overwhelmingly successful.

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ReviewsState of California reviews

Glassdoor has 1,353 State of California reviews submitted anonymously by State of California employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if State of California is right for you.