JPL Named Among ‘Best Places to Work in 2022’

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has been named one of the Best Places to Work in 2022 among large employers in the U.S., ranking No. 12 on Glassdoor’s Employees’ Choice Awards list honoring 100 employers. This marks JPL’s debut on the awards list, which is based solely on anonymous and voluntary reviews posted by current and former employees on Glassdoor’s website between Oct. 20, 2020, and Oct. 18, 2021.

Managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, JPL is a world leader for robotic exploration of the universe. Its missions have flown to every planet in our solar system and investigated worlds beyond in a quest to understand our place in the universe while also providing key scientific insights into our home planet. The laboratory employs a workforce of about 7,000 Caltech employees and contractors.

This year’s award – based on reviews written during the COVID-19 pandemic, when most employees have been working remotely – marks the first time that diversity and inclusion ratings were part of the algorithm Glassdoor uses to make the list.

“JPL achieves the great things it does because of the great people who work here,” said JPL Interim Director Larry James. “We’re an employer of choice. Innovation drives so much of what we do at JPL, and our inclusiveness helps drive that innovation. And to see the overwhelmingly positive feedback at a time when so many employees are away from JPL’s campus is all the more gratifying.”

The Lab was recognized in the category of U.S. large companies that have at least 1,000 employees. To be eligible, employees must have submitted at least 75 ratings across nine workplace attributes, which include career opportunities, compensation and benefits, and culture and values. (To see the sorts of employment opportunities available, go to jpl.jobs.)

JPL has also been named a best place to work in California by Forbes and – for the ninth consecutive year – a best place to work in IT by IDG Insider Pro and Computerworld.

The federally funded research and development center’s location at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains dates back to 1936, when a group of rocket enthusiasts, working under Caltech graduate student Frank Malina, conducted rocket firing tests at the site. The lab grew throughout the 1940s and 1950s and ultimately built and helped launch America’s first satellite, Explorer 1, in 1958. By the end of that year, Congress established NASA and JPL became part of the agency.