Skip to contentSkip to footer
      employer cover photo
      employer logo
      employer logo

      WestEd

      Engaged Employer

      WestEd reviews

      3.8

      76% would recommend to a friend

      (195 total reviews)
      avatar

      Jannelle Kubinec

      72% approve of CEO

      35% positive business outlook

      Ratings by demographic groups

      WestEd has an employee rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars, based on 195 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The WestEd employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Education industry (3.7 stars).

      Reviews by job title

      195 reviews
      3.0
      Feb 25, 2019

      Best place to work, except . . .

      Research associate
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Wonderful, compassionate people who are committed to the mission.

      Cons

      Only three weeks vacation for first three years. Work is intense, expectations high. I’m exhausted from lack of time off. I definitely am not my best self at work due to this lack of time off. I am interviewing elsewhere even though I am otherwise happy here. Several people who started at the same time as me have already left for organizations with more generous time off benefits. It’s unfortunate that these talented people were lost. Although some managers allow employees to take unpaid leaves, this is not financially feasible for people living in the Bay Area. Another con is that people are paid the same regardless of geographic location. We have staff working in New Mexico getting the same salaries as those working in DC, San Francisco, and Oakland. Staff in Sacramento office are able to work 80% FTE because their pay is so good relative to the cost of living. This is a major inequity. We have staff in large cities barely scrapping by while employees in areas with lower cost of living can live like kings. Staff have complained about both of these issues but leadership refuses to acknowledge their concerns.

      avatar
      WestEd Response
      7y
      Thank you for your work with WestEd – we are so appreciative of current employees who take the time to provide their views and constructive feedback on WestEd’s policies. I’m pleased to hear that you’ve had good experiences with the people here – we pride ourselves on being a supportive and caring workforce. WestEd has a complicated web of staff that work from their home office, one of our remote offices, or in our corporate headquarters in San Francisco. Within that web are a range of reporting relationships. We pay staff equitably based on a number of factors. It is rare that we have two people doing exactly the same work that brought exactly the same experiences and value to WestEd. On average, staff that live in higher cost of labor areas make more than those in low cost of labor areas but we don’t believe a strict geographic compensation policy is in WestEd ‘s or our staff’s best interest. We feel that our wages are competitive and in line with the work we do. Regarding vacation time, we also provide 12 paid holidays per year, as well as paid sick leave. After your 4th year here, your paid vacation time goes to 4 weeks per year. Thank you again for your work and taking the time to provide your opinion.
      2.0
      Apr 14, 2023

      Experience greatly dependent on department and team

      Research associate
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      - Great place to learn new skills if you are on the right projects - Flexibility in terms of remote work as well as being able to change your amount of FTE for most roles - Some great people work here who are well connected within the field

      Cons

      - Not always opportunities to develop skills - often you get stuck doing same repetitive tasks and rarely get to try something new - Work is not always relevant to team/department interests, just whatever they got funding for - Many colleagues suffer from burnout due to being swamped with work constantly, leading to a sometimes toxic work culture - Many have poor boundaries and overwork themselves, leading to an unspoken expectation for everyone to do the same - Management seem resistant to changes when staff would voice concerns - Supervisors often not experienced in management and stretched too thin to effectively support staff - Promotion process is full of bureaucracy and not transparent to employees

      Viewing 7 - 9 of 195 Reviews
      Related searches: WestEd jobs | WestEd salaries | WestEd benefits | WestEd interviews
      ReviewsWestEd reviews

      Glassdoor has 214 WestEd reviews submitted anonymously by WestEd employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if WestEd is right for you.