Does Thorlabs pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Thorlabs employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.2 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Thorlabs. This rating has improved by 8% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Thorlabs?

65% of Thorlabs employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Thorlabs 3.6 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.6 for culture and values and 2.9 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Thorlabs?

Engineer (21) , Customer Service Representative (9) , Mechanical Engineer (9) , Applications Engineer (8) , Technician (8) , Marketing (6) , Software Engineer (6) , Manufacturing Engineer (5) , Assembly Technician (4) , Employee (4) , Engineering Technician (4) , Manager (4) , Manufacturing Technician (4) , Production Assembler (4) , CNC Machinist (3)

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

"Nice people to work with" ((in 35 reviews)); "The benefits were good for two people" ((in 33 reviews)); "Good work life balance." ((in 14 reviews)); "Great coworkers outside of department." ((in 13 reviews)); "Work environment is friendly and encouraging." ((in 7 reviews))

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

"Pay is low and advancement isn't always clear" ((in 39 reviews)); "The unlucky ones deal with bad management and pay is overall quite low." ((in 28 reviews)); "Managers don't know how to defend their subordinates, and there is effectively no non" ((in 18 reviews)); "They try to hire people at extremely low salaries and provide them false promises that they can be promoted later on." ((in 12 reviews)); "upper management all family or friend of owner, and in marketing they are absolutely tyrannical and mistreats employees." ((in 7 reviews))

What are employees saying about Thorlabs redundancies in 2026?

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

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Thorlabs

Thorlabs Reviews

3.5

65% would recommend to a friend

(352 total reviews)

Alex Cable

62% approve of CEO

55% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

3.8

Diversity and inclusion

3.6

Culture and values

3.6

Work/Life balance

3.2

Compensation and benefits

3.0

Senior management

2.9

Career opportunities

Thorlabs has an employee rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars, based on 352 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Thorlabs employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Manufacturing industry (3.5 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Ethnic group

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

352 reviews

2.0

24 May 2014

Lots of unhappy employees

Electronic engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

The work was varied and interesting, with lots of opportunities to do new things. The atmosphere was fairly relaxed. The company was willing to give a lot of responsibility to less experienced employees.

Cons

The employee morale was very low, and employee turn over was high. The companies focus was on producing lots of low quality products fast. The management made some impulsive decisions at times and some projects were overly ambitious.

2.0

19 Jun 2024

Absolutely diabolical

Production operator

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

None that spring to mind

Cons

Poor management, low morale, poor pay

1.0

9 May 2024

Good if you are a member of the clique social friends group

Electromechanical assembler

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

Free coffee available in the canteen area and has a pool table

Cons

Poor leadership, poor management, harassment and bullying issues are swept under the carpet by management when raised. Team leaders who have no assembly/testing experience in electronics. Business unit manager that has very little if any production exposure and is biased treating some staff with preferential treatment and blocking career progression within the company of others. Quality standards that are constantly changing to meet output requirements. some Health and safety issues that are raised are ignored. Generally a poor place to work if you want a career.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 352 Reviews

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Jobs at Thorlabs