Synthetic Genomics Reviews
Updated Jan 12, 2021
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Full-time, Part-time
English
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Job Status (2)
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- - California
- - San Diego, CA Area
- - El Centro, CA Area
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- - Boise, ID Area
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Pros
"all the exciting cutting edge research in the field of algae and biofuels" (in 4 reviews)
"the great people here, genuinely great team of people to be around everyday" (in 3 reviews)
Cons
"Like all biotech companies programs come and go, but SGI is in a good place now" (in 4 reviews)
"Company is losing good employees because of upper management issues, HR could care less" (in 3 reviews)
Pros & Cons are excerpts from user reviews. They are not authored by Glassdoor.
Pros
Good work life balance in general
Cons
None. As long as you have job
"Decent place"
- Work/Life Balance★★★★★
- Culture & Values★★★★★
- Career Opportunities★★★★★
- Compensation and Benefits★★★★★
- Senior Management★★★★★
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookDisapproves of CEOI worked at Synthetic Genomics full-time for more than 5 years
Pros
Nice laboratory. Clean areas. Snacks.
Cons
Missed markers for bonuses multiple years. Have to fight for competitive annual increase. High turn-over. Resource competition between groups.
"Great opportunity and experience"
- Work/Life Balance★★★★★
- Culture & Values★★★★★
- Career Opportunities★★★★★
- Compensation and Benefits★★★★★
- Senior Management★★★★★
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI have been working at Synthetic Genomics full-time for more than 8 years
Pros
My two main reasons for staying here are 1. the great people here, genuinely great team of people to be around everyday. 2. all the exciting cutting edge research in the field of algae and biofuels. love being part of passionate team that wants to solve real world issues.
Cons
Like all biotech companies programs come and go, but SGI is in a good place now.
- Helpful (4)
"Systematic Gross Incompetence"
- Work/Life Balance★★★★★
- Culture & Values★★★★★
- Career Opportunities★★★★★
- Compensation and Benefits★★★★★
- Senior Management★★★★★
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookDisapproves of CEOI worked at Synthetic Genomics
Pros
Those with a passion for teaching will find ample opportunity to educate PhD scientists and engineering mangers on the finer points of high school-level mathematics and basic tenants of the scientific method. The SGI team was able to deliver on the noble goal of aiding the founder with shameless self-promotion in the media.
Cons
If you're looking for a blueprint on how to milk 100s of millions of dollars from investors and collaboative partners without a solid technical foundation or capable leadership, Theranos might be the first company to cross your mind. But, the bait and switch approach employed by SGI was far superior. Continuously jumping from one failed, non-sensical project to the next for 15 years running gives a company the appearance of a 10-ring circus rather than a fraud machine. I can agree with other reviewers on the premise that the management team is completely useless, but suggestions that the company was once great or that a bunch of incompetent leaders somehow managed to assemble a large team of talented scientists and engineers are laughable at best. All things SGI-DNA and Instrumentation & Enigineering were especially frustrating to deal with since the people were unable to grasp the difference between proof of concept and "manufacturing" phases of product development.
Continue reading - Helpful (5)
"Poor executive decisions leads to many rounds of layoffs"
- Work/Life Balance★★★★★
- Culture & Values★★★★★
- Career Opportunities★★★★★
- Compensation and Benefits★★★★★
- Senior Management★★★★★
Negative OutlookI worked at Synthetic Genomics full-time for more than a year
Pros
The people I worked with were great, of course they're all gone now.
Cons
Huge hiring push last year only to discover the company had no money to pay for the new program, and failed miserably at raising new funds. Lots of people left good jobs to join SGI, only to be laid off a year later.
"Great place to get some experience"
- Work/Life Balance★★★★★
- Culture & Values★★★★★
- Career Opportunities★★★★★
- Compensation and Benefits★★★★★
- Senior Management★★★★★
Positive OutlookNo opinion of CEOI worked at Synthetic Genomics full-time for more than 3 years
Pros
Great co-workers, cool science and great benefits.
Cons
Upper-Management is out of touch with the day-to-day operations
- Helpful (5)
"Once was a great place to work"
- Work/Life Balance★★★★★
- Culture & Values★★★★★
- Career Opportunities★★★★★
- Compensation and Benefits★★★★★
- Senior Management★★★★★
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookApproves of CEOI have been working at Synthetic Genomics full-time for more than 3 years
Pros
Not many at this point
Cons
Looks like the company is going down. People are leaving and not being replaced.
"Lab tec"
- Work/Life Balance★★★★★
- Culture & Values★★★★★
- Career Opportunities★★★★★
- Compensation and Benefits★★★★★
- Senior Management★★★★★
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI worked at Synthetic Genomics full-time for less than a year
Pros
It's challenging, but at the same time you get to learn things that are gratifying.
Cons
There was little to none ,structure by staff I mean supervisors they seemed like they were not happy with their job, I did pretty much whatever I wanted to do there, but I tried to help the company with a lot of thier problems that they were having on the site, but too many chiefs ,and not enough indians
Continue reading- Helpful (3)
"Not a place you want to be"
- Work/Life Balance★★★★★
- Culture & Values★★★★★
- Career Opportunities★★★★★
- Compensation and Benefits★★★★★
- Senior Management★★★★★
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookI worked at Synthetic Genomics full-time for more than 5 years
Pros
Smart scientists with an interesting vision for future
Cons
Poor organization. Negative environment and unhappy people in rank and file. No clear path to creating a profitable company with a future. Too many senior managers that are not making decisions to move the company forward.
Continue reading - Helpful (2)
"Talent present, mgmt training and integrity needed"
- Work/Life Balance★★★★★
- Culture & Values★★★★★
- Career Opportunities★★★★★
- Compensation and Benefits★★★★★
- Senior Management★★★★★
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookNo opinion of CEOI worked at Synthetic Genomics full-time
Pros
Exciting projects, great and smart people. You feel you are working on groundbreaking science
Cons
Be aware of what’s happening on the ground. Leadership is immature, favoritism rampant and integrity in collaborations is questionable. No real sign of merit based promotions and has led to many people leaving as well. Disappointing since it pits otherwise strong talent against each other in trying to stand out to leadership.
Continue reading
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