Lawrence Livermore Lab Reviews

Pros

Location, salaries, transfer opportunities within the lab, training opportunities, work-life balance, benefits, lab-wide communications, volunteer opportunities, healthy lifestyles, abundant events and activities

Cons

Employees that have been working at the Lab for a long time tend to be unresponsive or slow to respond to requests.

Advice to Senior Management

Be sure you treat all employees fairly, equally, and with respect; keep communications open and honest. Don't save all feedback for performance appraisal time, give it throughout the year.

Pros

Top notch scientists and engineers. Flextime and latitude in schedule. Great retirement benefits.

Cons

Overall poor management. To get ahead, must enter management ranks. Very high management to 'worker-bee' ratio.

Advice to Senior Management

Hire some professional manager types to replace retreaded physicist managers with poor people skills.

Pros

Location
Access to tools and resources
Part of a larger complex
Multiple programs -- can move within lab
Sense of purpose

Cons

Feeling hamstrung
Somewhat tense atmosphere lately
Experience may not lead to opportunities in other sectors
Some researchers may feel spread thin or frustrated if funding ends before projects are complete

Advice to Senior Management

Keep informing staff about political realities among funders
Plan physical plant with an eye toward efficiency -- arid-appropriate landscaping, fences situated logically with respect to access for groundskeepers, etc.

Pros

There are some interesting projects.

Cons

Management overheads takes most of research grant money.

Advice to Senior Management

Senior management is parasitic because roughly 2/3 of any outside grant is taken by overhead. Sponsors don't get the results they were promised.

Pros

Interesting programs and projects serving the national interest, passionate and smart people, collaborative environment, and excellent training and career advancement opportunities.

Cons

Funding cycle at DOE impacts timeline for execution of planned projects.

Advice to Senior Management

Establish a program that recognizes innovation of business process improvements for business operations, similar to recognition of scientific and engineering innovation.

Pros

as it is a federal laboratory, it is a safe place where to work. It has a lot of benefits and the salary is higher compared to the average of the other similar position in US.

Cons

There are a lot of rules and a lot of burocracy. You have to be patience at the beginning and get used to the rules.

Advice to Senior Management

Sometimes it seems that the meaning of a large part of the burocracy is only to create work within the lab. Reduce it or explain better way all that papers are needed. otherwise it is frustrating.

Pros

Job security here is good and working schedule is somewhat flexible. Work on cutting edge science and really intelligent people.

Cons

Limited scope of work performed here and not a lot of opportunities to move up in the organization. Demographics of the people here are limited.

Advice to Senior Management

In general I think they are doing the best that they can. I don't feel like I am kept in the loop as much but that isn't their fault as much as it is mine.

Pros

Flexible work environment with respect to working hours

Cons

No clear career path
No career development
Managed salaries - no Pay for performance; therefore non-performers at top levels still compensated
Ranking based on 1 - n for all within the scientist category, whether in management or not.
No COLA - average raises 1 - 2%

Advice to Senior Management

For a true for profit company, there needs to be a "pay for performance" so all levels with in the lab have a vested interest in the success of the lab. Needs to be a clear career path and supporting development programs to help employees.

Pros

If you like research but academics is not for you, then LLNL might be the place for you. Despite recent bad press, research opportunities are alive and well. Compensation for a research organization are very good.

Cons

Most of the "issues" at LLNL (and other national labs) stem from DOE and NNSA. Current trends in government research funding are away from national labs. Silly rules and a petty high-school mentality from DOE/NNSA managers are difficult to deal with at times.

Advice to Senior Management

There is tremendous talent at the "researcher" level. The current trend towards top-down research initiatives should be rethought.

Pros

Access to world class facilities and cutting-edge research projects.
Stimulating environment. A lot gets done here, despite bureaucracy and intrusive safety and security measures.
Thousands of brilliant, friendly people work here.
Great pay and benefits.
Good food on site.

Cons

Limited funding for non-defense related research.
Grad students are kept in the dark because scientists can't talk about their defense related work.
Poor mentoring for grad students.
Moderate atmosphere of paranoia - might be for the best, considering the lab's defense mission.

Advice to Senior Management

The visual environment is very dreary. More attention to landscaping and beauty would help to lighten moods and perhaps increase productivity and job satisfaction.