The Institute is plagued with managers that are passive and ineffective at best. At worst, I witnessed some truly awful behavior from managers that, when reported, was not addressed in a way that I felt was sufficient. Vertical and lateral moves are equally virtually impossible, meaning that if you have issues with your manager, the only way to escape them is to leave entirely. This may be why several departments have wildly unsustainable turnover.
RA pay is abysmal. Living on an RA1 salary is brutal in Seattle, and RA2 pay isn't much better. When confronted with complaints about low pay, administration uses the excuse of "we're a nonprofit" - all the while doling out tens of millions of dollars to outside "Frontiers" investigators.
Projects are pushed into pipeline before they're ready, and the employees responsible for actually collecting data are left scrambling to pick up the pieces. The Institute is hesitant to ever admit that our projects may not be as groundbreaking as claimed. Any concerns brought forward by RAs are shot down, no matter how legitimate, since we don't have PhDs and therefore our opinions don't matter.
If you are looking for career growth or for an opportunity to boost your graduate school application - look elsewhere. You will not get opportunities to think like a scientist. You will not get onto publications or go to conferences. You will be used as a cog in a "science factory."
