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Pew Research Center

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The work is very fulfilling, and you will learn about how to conduct good survey research! - Research Assistant Pew Research Center Employee Review

4.0
13 Apr 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You have the opportunity to conduct meaningful research and see your work cited by very important stakeholders in politics, research, policy, etc. Colleagues are very nice and professional. The workplace is very welcoming and affirming! Benefits packages are extremely generous. The work-life balance is second-to-none (average working hours per week are probably below 40 for most researchers, with some volatility during peak publishing periods).

Cons

Because of the org's non-profit status, there is not a lot of extra money available. Do not expect many perks. Salaries are altogether lower than analogous positions at for-profit companies. The Pew Research Center functions mostly as a loose confederation of research teams, which leads to inefficiencies. Higher-ups are trying to create a more cohesive structure, but this can be really slow. Growth opportunities are extremely limited and slow-moving. You are effectively required to leave the org and go to grad school before they will consider promoting you above a certain level (a few have done it without this, but it is rare). Your growth path is confined to a rigid structure imposed by HR, and it is difficult to get HR to recognize valuable contributions that fall outside the bounds of the preset framework.

Explore other reviews about Pew Research Center

5.0
17 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great atmosphere and strong emphasis on teamwork

Cons

Upward mobility can be difficult

1.0
20 July 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The Center conducts good and rigorous work. Excellent research in a time when polling is under fire from different directions and angles.

Cons

Don’t feel that leadership cares about its employees. Generally don’t seem want to engage employee concerns— and just do what they want to do anyway when they do engage employees. For example, they used to do a yearly all staff survey of satisfaction. Last year, they nixed the Center wide meeting to discuss the results. This year they just skipped the survey altogether— at a time where I’d personally guess employee dissatisfaction to be at a 5+ year high.Think this is particularly bad now that the center shares a space with the Trust, leading to both institutional creep. There’s also been an ongoing rollback of remote/hybrid work— keep getting told there’s “no slippery slope” but keep moving to more time in the office for reasons that are inconsistent — despite the fact that, at this point in time, anyone hired in the past 5 years was hired with the expectation of only 2 days in-office and has never known anything more (and that is the culture they’re familiar with at this point). There’s also a career hierarchy in theory but less so in practice, meaning few opportunities for internal upward growth.

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