Does UCLA pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, UCLA employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.6 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at UCLA. This rating has decreased by 2% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at UCLA?

76% of UCLA employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated UCLA 4.0 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.9 for culture and values and 3.8 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at UCLA?

Research Assistant (202) , Teaching Assistant (170) , Graduate Student Researcher (164) , Administrative Assistant (120) , Postdoctoral Fellow (113) , Graduate Student (103) , Graduate Research Assistant (88) , Graduate Teaching Assistant (86) , PhD Student (67) , Postdoctoral Scholar (67) , Postdoctoral Researcher (65) , Student Worker (63) , Student Assistant (58) , Registered Nurse (56) , Researcher (55)

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

"Benefits are great and class material is interesting." ((in 520 reviews)); "The people I worked with were great and that was one of the best reasons I enjoyed my work experience at ucla." ((in 290 reviews)); "The campus is beautiful and it is a dream place to work if you like research in social sciences." ((in 226 reviews)); "Hours are flexible and easily available with overtime pay for holidays and late night shifts." ((in 215 reviews)); "It's close to campus and staff is great" ((in 118 reviews))

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

"Low pay and if you don’t publish you can really hurt your chances of getting a job after." ((in 327 reviews)); "half time only means low salary but that's on par for the course for grad students" ((in 233 reviews)); "Management was poor and slow to get back to you." ((in 113 reviews)); "parking is expensive and not always convenient to where you work." ((in 101 reviews)); "Many hourly staff leave the department or UCLA as a whole due to poor management and leadership." ((in 37 reviews))

What are employees saying about UCLA layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about UCLA layoffs and their outlook for job security at UCLA in 2026.

UCLA reviews

4.1

76% would recommend to a friend

(5,738 total reviews)

Gene D. Block

70% approve of CEO

61% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.2

Diversity & inclusion

4.0

Work/Life balance

3.9

Culture & values

3.8

Career opportunities

3.6

Senior management

3.6

Compensation and benefits

UCLA has an employee rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars, based on 5,738 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The UCLA employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Educación industry (3.7 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

6K reviews

3.0

Oct 6, 2023

Administrative Incompetence & Poor Outlook

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

The students are great! I appreciate UCLA's communicated values, and there are some great employees there.

Cons

I was shocked at the level of administrative incompetence at UCLA. It takes forever to get any administrative task completed, and lots of balls get dropped. I constantly found myself nagging others to do their jobs. The sad part is that I don't think it was due to individual employees, but instead due to chronic understaffing because they are underpaid and underappreciated. My direct supervisors were also intense micromanagers; despite having managerial roles, it was clear that they had never had any managerial training and were not able to run an effective team. There also wasn't enough opportunity for career advancement.

5.0

Aug 4, 2023

Strong union, experience depends on department

Teaching assistant

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

if you're in a good department, it's a wonderful expereince

Cons

LA is HCOL, be prepared to find supplemental income

1.0

Nov 29, 2022

Do not work here

Student affairs

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

The students are amazing and continuously blow me away with their passion, drive, and intellect. Hard-working colleagues who keep you going.

Cons

Poor administrative leadership. Lack of transparency is the standard culture. No merit increases. If you work hard, you're punished by being assigned more work without additional pay.

Viewing 28 - 30 of 5,738 Reviews

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UCLA

UCLA reviews

Ratings by category

Ratings by demographic groups

Reviews by job title

Administrative Incompetence & Poor Outlook

Strong union, experience depends on department

Do not work here

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