Does UCLA pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, UCLA employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.7 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?

77% 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 (121) , 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 525 reviews)); "The people I worked with were great and that was one of the best reasons I enjoyed my work experience at ucla." ((in 293 reviews)); "The campus is beautiful and it is a dream place to work if you like research in social sciences." ((in 219 reviews)); "Hours are flexible and easily available with overtime pay for holidays and late night shifts." ((in 205 reviews)); "I love teaching and work environment is good." ((in 119 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)); "Salary and raises very low for level of responsibilities and expectation (25% below fair market value)" ((in 228 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 102 reviews)); "The only way to "move up" or get a raise is by applying to another position." ((in 30 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

77% would recommend to a friend

(5,742 total reviews)

Gene D. Block

70% approve of CEO

59% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.2

Diversity & inclusion

4.0

Work/Life balance

3.9

Culture & values

3.8

Career opportunities

3.7

Compensation and benefits

3.6

Senior management

UCLA has an employee rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars, based on 5,742 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

Mar 9, 2017

Fund Manager

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

During my employment at UCLA, I have been fortunate to be surrounded by a caring group of coworkers. Their passion for the student populations that they serve, has proved to be a great example for a young professional such as myself. Recent graduates can benefit from the skills learned, but after a year, you'll be stuck in a position without the possibility for professional growth or merit increases.

Cons

Culture is guided by dictatorial management as evidenced by department executive directors who expect employees to remain satisfied with mediocrity rather than encourage individual ambition for advancement.

4.0

Feb 2, 2017

External Affairs - Advancement Services

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Good benefits, secure position, some job training. Oftentimes people will stay here 10 or 20+ years, which attests to the atmosphere. Very understanding of work-life balance.

Cons

Things move slowly at UCLA, which can be maddening until you get into the rhythm. Individual experiences are based entirely on your department and leadership.

3.0

Jan 24, 2017

Job security, but terrible pay/advancement

Program manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Please note - all departments are very different, but these are some general trends: - job security - generally a very good work-life balance - beautiful campus - excellent pension and benefits (does help compensate for low pay) - free health and wellness programs & discounted public transportation passes - excellent food on campus - all managers are quite different across departments, but mine were great people and very supportive of our team

Cons

- job security means lazy and dead-weight employees can't be fired after 6 month probation period. VERY frustrating. I recommend managers make good use of letting employees go before the 6 month period if they are incompetent. - job security means many campus employees have a very "public sector" mentality about their job ("that's not my job", unwilling to stay late, etc). - UCLA has a policy that your salary cannot increase more than 15%, even for a significant promotion, without a special exception from the Vice Chancellor (rare). This means that outside candidates can command higher salaries than internal promotions, just based on this rule. You have to leave the university and then come back if you want a significant raise. For this reason, I would NOT recommend a long career at UCLA if you start as an entry level employee.

Viewing 175 - 177 of 5,742 Reviews

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UCLA

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Fund Manager

External Affairs - Advancement Services

Job security, but terrible pay/advancement

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