Is CERN a good company to work for as a Software Developer?

Software Developer professionals working at CERN have rated their employer with 4.4 out of 5 stars in 81 Glassdoor reviews. This is an average score with the overall rating of CERN employees being 4.4 out of 5 stars. Search open Software Developer Jobs at CERN now and start preparing for your job interview by browsing frequently asked Software Developer interview questions at CERN .

Does CERN pay Software Developer employees well?

Software Developer professionals rate their compensation and benefits at CERN with 4.5 out of 5 stars based on 81 anonymously submitted employee reviews. This is 4.5% better than the company average rating for salary and benefits. Find out more about Software Developer salaries and benefits at CERN .

How happy are Software Developer professionals working at CERN?

92% of Software Developer employees at CERN would recommend their employer to a friend. This rating has decreased by 4% in the past 12 months. Software Developer professionals have also rated CERN with a 4.7 rating for work-life-balance, 4.7 rating for diversity and inclusion, 4.5 rating for culture and values and 3.8 rating for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at CERN?

Technical Student (125) , Software Engineer (112) , Fellow (61) , PhD Student (35) , Senior Fellow (24) , Doctoral Student (23) , Research Fellow (23) , Internship (22) , Junior Fellow (19) , Mechanical Engineer (19) , Postdoctoral Fellow (19) , Engineer (18) , Project Associate (18) , Intern (16) , Administrative Student (15)

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

"Good salary (if you're not Swiss)" ((in 131 reviews)); "Best experience ever Great people" ((in 79 reviews)); "Amazing environment and great colleagues." ((in 57 reviews)); "Good benefits for CERN contracts" ((in 48 reviews)); "Good work/life balance" ((in 33 reviews))

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

"Bad management, nothing else fdgdfgdf" ((in 37 reviews)); "Slow career progression" ((in 15 reviews)); "Had 5 supervisors, overall)" ((in 11 reviews)); "Incredible nepotism everywhere." ((in 7 reviews)); "Old buildings with no AC" ((in 6 reviews))

CERN Software Developer reviews

4.4

92% would recommend to a friend

(81 total reviews)

Fabiola Gianotti

99% approve of CEO

45% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.7

Diversity & inclusion

4.7

Work/Life balance

4.5

Culture & values

4.5

Compensation and benefits

3.8

Senior management

3.8

Career opportunities

Software Developer employees have rated CERN with 4.4 out of 5 stars, based on 81 company reviews on Glassdoor. This indicates that most Software Developer professionals have an excellent working experience there. CERN is rated 21% above average by Software Developer professionals compared to other employers within the Regierung & öffentliche Verwaltung industry (3.6 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

81 reviews

3.0

Jan 24, 2017

Good life/work balance, slow moving IT

Software engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Work/life balance is good and work environment is pleasant, despite most of buildings being very old and would need to be renewed. International organisation working consistently toward the same scope, together, with a noble cause. No added taxes on salary and great health insurance.

Cons

Evaluation of work isn't serious and happening very slowly. Management often driven by personal interest only, with mean intentions at the price of hitting the projects/organisation interest, by seriously jeopardising resources and loosing talents.which leave. No meritocratic selection of people and HR is just a puppet in the selection process, despite trying to have a central role in it.

5.0

Dec 7, 2016

Software engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Great environment, competitive salary, great opportunity to go to conferences as participant or even as speaker.

Cons

turnover, hard to find a place to leave around.

2.0

Dec 1, 2016

Research center, not a company

Software engineer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

-Diverse disciplines and nationalities. -Diverse projects, rich in technologies and skills needed. -Laid-back atmosphere, focus on the important things -Long holidays and good life-work balance -Diplomatic priviledges

Cons

-A lot of external users with a gazillion types of contract and lack of organizing efforts by the secretariats make space management a chaos. There is often no physical connection between the offices and the teams, which makes communication difficult. Most of the time CERN-paid employees work next to people totally unrelated to their work or to CERN whatsoever. -No apparent organization-wide training and uniform culture for management. Managers controls themselves and their teams in total freedom. -Lack of commitment due to bureaucracy, lack of strong organization culture and distance between employees and the HR. Lack of an interest to retain talent is also a commitment killer.

Viewing 61 - 63 of 81 Reviews

Top companies for "Compensation and Benefits" near you

UNDP

3.7★Compensation & Benefits

United Nations

3.9★Compensation & Benefits

U.S. Department of State

3.8★Compensation & Benefits

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit

3.8★Compensation & Benefits

Jobs at CERN

Full-Stack Web Developer (SY-EPC-CCS-2026-155-GRAE)

Backend Software Developer (Java/Python) (BE-CSS-DSP-2026-151-GRAE)

Python Software Engineer (BE-CSS-IDE-2026-114-LD)

Genf

View job

Software Developer for Control Systems (BE-ICS-STF-2026-105-GRAP)

Embedded Software Engineer (BE-CEM-EDL-2026-102-GRAP)

CERN

CERN Software Developer reviews

Ratings by category

Ratings by demographic groups

Reviews by job title

Good life/work balance, slow moving IT

Software engineer

Research center, not a company

Top companies for "Compensation and Benefits" near you

Jobs at CERN

CERN reviews FAQs

Want the inside scoop on your own company?

Bowls

Followed companies

Job searches

Top companies for "Compensation and Benefits" near you

CERN reviews FAQs

Jobs at CERN