Is OpenAI a good place to work?

OpenAI scores 58 out of 100 across cult.fyi's culture dimensions.

Does OpenAI have good work-life balance?

At OpenAI, employees take an average of 18 days of vacation per year (less than 51% of companies), and the average work week is 61 hours.

How hard is the interview at OpenAI?

OpenAI rates 73 out of 100 on interview difficulty, harder than 72% of companies.

How does OpenAI pay compare to market?

OpenAI pays 78% above market, higher than 98% of companies tracked.

How stable are jobs at OpenAI?

OpenAI has an expected layoff rate of 15.6% of its workforce, lower than 60% of companies.

OpenAI

OpenAI has a fast-paced, innovative culture. Top 1% for AI maturity - significantly above average. Top 15% for PIP risk - well above the typical rate.

Last updated June 16, 2026

Our mission is to ensure that AGI benefits all of humanity. Here are the principles that guide our work.

1. Democratization. We will resist the potential of this technology to consolidate power in the hands of the few.

2. Empowerment. We believe AI can empower everyone to achieve their goals, learn more, be happier and more fulfilled, and pursue their dreams, and that society as a whole will benefit from this.

3. Universal prosperity. We want a future where everyone can have an excellent life.

4. Resilience. AI will introduce new risks, and we will work with other companies, ecosystems, governments, and society to solve them. We will make significant use of our Foundation’s resources to support this work.

5. Adaptability. We continue to believe the only way to meet the challenges of a very unpredictable future is to be prepared to update our positions as we learn more. We also acknowledge that OpenAI is a much larger force in the world than it was a few years ago, and we will be transparent about when, how, and why our operating principles change. As a concrete example, while we are quite confident that universal prosperity will remain really important, we can imagine periods in the future where we have to trade off some empowerment for more resilience.

Standout Strengths

Top 1% for AI maturity - significantly above average.

Top 1% for Pay growth - significantly above average.

Top 2% for Pay vs market - significantly above average.

Top 2% for Employer brand - significantly above average.

Areas of Concern

Top 15% for PIP risk - well above the typical rate.

How well does OpenAI adhere to its principles?

Higher than 72% of companies · median 43

Where do ideas come from?

Lower than 73% of companies · median 36

Organizational Power

Employee count

Large Enterprise7,848 employees

Average Hours Worked

Pace

Higher than 96% of companies · median 60.5

Remote Friendly?

Some Office Presence Required

How Information Shared

Meetings

Compensation Relative to Market

Higher than 98% of companies · median 115

AI Insights:

OpenAI moves at the speed of existential risk - because apparently that's fun for some people. Brilliant colleagues, bleeding-edge work, and comp that'll make your bank account weep with joy; just don't expect your work-life balance or your ethics to survive intact. Inner circles run the show, pivots happen weekly, and people vanish from Slack like they never existed. If you can stomach the chaos, your resume will thank you forever.

AI stack

GPT-4o | o3 | Sora | Whisper | DALL-E

AI maturity

Higher than 99% of companies · median 60

Detailed Compensation Information

Levels.FYI

Review Comments

Glassdoor

Companies with a similar culture

Palantir

NVIDIA

Notion

Frequently asked questions

: OpenAI scores 58 out of 100 across cult.fyi's culture dimensions.
: At OpenAI, employees take an average of 18 days of vacation per year (less than 51% of companies), and the average work week is 61 hours.
: OpenAI rates 73 out of 100 on interview difficulty, harder than 72% of companies.
: OpenAI pays 78% above market, higher than 98% of companies tracked.
: OpenAI has an expected layoff rate of 15.6% of its workforce, lower than 60% of companies.