Does CERN pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, CERN employees rate their compensation and benefits as 4.3 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at CERN. This rating has been stable over the past 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at CERN?

91% of CERN employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated CERN 4.4 out of 5 for work life balance, 4.5 for culture and values and 3.7 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at CERN?

Technical Student (125) , Software Engineer (111) , Fellow (61) , PhD Student (35) , Senior Fellow (24) , Research Fellow (23) , Doctoral Student (22) , Internship (22) , Junior Fellow (19) , Mechanical Engineer (19) , Postdoctoral Fellow (19) , Engineer (18) , Project Associate (18) , Intern (16) , Administrative Student (15)

What are the pros of working at CERN according to real employee reviews?

"Good salary (if you're not Swiss)" ((in 116 reviews)); "Best experience ever Great people" ((in 85 reviews)); "Amazing environment and great colleagues." ((in 56 reviews)); "Good benefits for CERN contracts" ((in 44 reviews)); "Good work life balance and vast interesting domains of activity." ((in 34 reviews))

What are the cons of working at CERN according to real employee reviews?

"Bad management, nothing else fdgdfgdf" ((in 38 reviews)); "Slow career progression" ((in 16 reviews)); "Career opportunities are limited, long" ((in 14 reviews)); "Had 5 supervisors, overall)" ((in 14 reviews)); "Incredible nepotism everywhere." ((in 6 reviews))

CERN reviews about "colleague"

Compare reviews

59% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.5

Culture and values

4.5

Diversity and inclusion

4.4

Work/Life balance

4.3

Compensation and benefits

3.9

Senior management

3.7

Career opportunities

Reviews by job title

55 reviews

5.0

29 Feb 2024

Very good employer

Computing engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

Excellent work life balance. 8 weeks of Paid time off. Very Good salary. Good working atmosphere, very smart and nice colleagues

Cons

Getting an indefinite contract is rare, and based on luck more than work achievements

5.0

9 Dec 2024

Great place to work

Student worker

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

Amazing environment and great colleagues.

Cons

Large organization, sometimes hard to see your impact

5.0

3 Apr 2024

Great workplace

Postdoctoral fellow

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

- competitive salary for a academic research and good benefits. - smart colleagues, great community overall

Cons

- short contracts, no long term perspectives - management quality can vary greatly between groups.

5.0

6 Oct 2025

Great ORG

Software engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

- amazing colleagues - open door policy - little bureaucracy (grad levels) - great benefits

Cons

- many silos, very team-based, everyone is doing their own thing hence duplication

4.0

5 Dec 2024

abc

Software engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

good experience overall, nice colleagues

Cons

none as far as i can tell

5.0

26 Apr 2024

review cern

Senior research fellow

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

nice colleagues, good salary for a research center, 30 days of vacation plus two weeks closure during Christmas

Cons

Low chance of long term contract Workaholic colleagues

5.0

5 Mar 2025

Once in a lifetime experience

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

Interesting and challenging work Supportive and intelligent colleagues Excellent compensation Every day is different and incredible

Cons

It is difficult to secure a long duration contract

4.0

21 Nov 2025

Salary is net of tax

Junior fellow

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

Good atmosphere Smart colleagues Innovative

Cons

Lacking growth opportunities Limited duration contracts

5.0

15 Jul 2024

Amazing

Postdoctoral fellow

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

Good work environments, excellent colleagues, good salaries.

Cons

Short contracts, very difficult to grow. Salaries not as good as in other tech companies in Switzerland or other Universities

Viewing 1 - 3 of 55 Reviews

Jobs at CERN

Library Cataloguer (OSI-SIS-AL-2026-146-GRAE)

Junior Marketing Communications Officer (IPT-KT-MC-2026-148-GRAE)

Talent Acquisition Officer (HR-TA-2026-57-GRAE)

Short Term Internship 2026

Switzerland

View job

Professional Firefighter (HSE-FRS-2026-104-LD)

Geneva

View job

CERN

CERN reviews about "colleague"

Ratings by category

Reviews by job title

Very good employer

Great place to work

Great workplace

Great ORG

abc

review cern

Once in a lifetime experience

Salary is net of tax

Amazing

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