Does USDA Foreign Agricultural Service pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, USDA Foreign Agricultural Service employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.8 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at USDA Foreign Agricultural Service. This rating has been stable over the past 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at USDA Foreign Agricultural Service?

47% of USDA Foreign Agricultural Service employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated USDA Foreign Agricultural Service 4.1 out of 5 for work life balance, 2.7 for culture and values and 3.2 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at USDA Foreign Agricultural Service?

International Trade Specialist (11) , International Program Specialist (8) , Foreign Service Officer (4) , Analyst (2) , Economist (2) , Intern (2) , International Economist (2)

What are the pros of working at USDA Foreign Agricultural Service according to real employee reviews?

"Mostly great colleagues dedicated to mission" ((in 9 reviews)); "Great People" ((in 7 reviews)); "Great benefits and a federal job" ((in 7 reviews)); "Good work life balance" ((in 5 reviews)); "Some coworkers were bright and nice." ((in 3 reviews))

What are the cons of working at USDA Foreign Agricultural Service according to real employee reviews?

"Lack of leadership, old technology, no clear process" ((in 5 reviews)); "FAS Foreign Affairs is consumed by Cronyism, Lack of Transparency and Accountability, Questionable Personnel Practices, and Petty Conduct." ((in 4 reviews))

USDA Foreign Agricultural Service Reviews

3.0

47% would recommend to a friend

(62 total reviews)

Philip Karsting

55% approve of CEO

35% positive business outlook

Company ratings over time

Ratings trend for the last 6 months (62 reviews)

USDA Foreign Agricultural Service has an employee rating of 3.0 out of 5 stars, based on 62 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Government and public administration industry (3.6 stars).

Reviews by job title

62 reviews

2.0

9 Dec 2025

Interesting work but toxic environment

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

Will likely be put on an interesting portfolio and have the opportunity to experience high-level engagement and international travel around technical issues.

Cons

Terrible and entrenched management with a history of covering disciplinary issues, gaslighting and toxic management who violate hiring norms and practices to advance favorites with no repercussions, lack of adequate staffing and micromanagement, treated and verbally told employees are disposable but employees blamed for poor management planning and resource constraints, consistently ranks at the bottom of the federal workforce for morale

3.0

8 Dec 2025

FAS

International economist

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

Mostly great colleagues dedicated to mission

Cons

Experience can vary based on your specific team and chain of leadership. Strict gov timelines make upward mobility harder. Tight budgets make career development/travel opportunities harder to secure as more junior staff.

3.0

26 Aug 2025

Great mission; chaotic upper management

International trade specialist

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

Such great folks to work with, most of the time. The mission - helping U.S. growers, ranchers, and food producers grow markets abroad - is hard not to get behind.

Cons

The administrator's office is just incompetent. They sit on assignments, fail to communicate, demand things at the last minute, and are generally just sort of rude. They contradict themselves constantly, so it's hard to anticipate what they actually want. The chief of staff seems deeply unhappy and is mean. If you can stay away from them, however, you'll be fine.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 62 Reviews

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