Mercor
Small (~200)
Scale AI
Large (~1,200)
Best For
Mercor
Best for: Engineers who want to build AI hiring infrastructure at a $10B rocketship with extreme ownership and MIT-founder energy
Scale AI
Best for: Ambitious builders who want critical AI infrastructure work serving top-tier clients
Ratings
MercorScale AI
3.9
3.5
Overall
3.9
2.7
Work-Life Balance
3.6
2.9
Culture & Values
4.0
3.5
Comp & Benefits
3.5
2.8
Senior Mgmt
3.7
3.6
Career Opps
👍 74% Recommend
👤 82% CEO Approval (Brendan Foody)
👍 56% Recommend
👤 60% CEO Approval (Alexandr Wang)
Culture Values
Mercor only
🤝 Flat Hierarchy💎 Strong Comp & Equity
Scale AI only
🎯 Direct Product Impact🌱 Learning & Growth
Shared
🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate⚙️ Engineering-Driven
Pros & Cons
Mercor
- Massive impact at an AI company growing at breakneck speed
- Top-tier compensation with strong equity at $10B valuation
- Intense 9/9/6 work schedule — long hours are the norm
- Work-life balance is a real sacrifice at this stage
Scale AI
- Building critical AI data infrastructure used by OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, and the US government
- Strong compensation for engineers — competitive base + equity
- Work-life balance rated 2.7/5 — long hours common during client deadlines
- Culture and values scored 2.9/5 — inconsistent management quality
Bottom Line
Mercor
Choose Mercor if you want outsized impact on AI-era hiring at a tiny, fast-moving team — but the 9/9/6 schedule is real, and work-life balance is genuinely sacrificed for speed.
Scale AI
Choose Scale AI if you want to build data infrastructure for OpenAI and the US government — but expect long hours and inconsistent management.
Open Roles
Mercor — 49 jobs
💻 Engineering
20
🧠 ML / AI
6
💼 Sales / GTM
5
👤 HR / People
3
📊 Data
2
📣 Marketing
2
📋 Product
2
🎨 Design
1
⚙️ Operations
1
Scale AI — 175 jobs
💻 Engineering
64
🧠 ML / AI
25
📋 Product
16
💼 Sales / GTM
14
⚙️ Operations
7
⚖️ Legal
5
📣 Marketing
4
📊 Data
2
💰 Finance
2
👤 HR / People
2
🎨 Design
1
🎧 Support
1
Summary
Mercor scores 3.9/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 3.9 work-life balance rating. Scale AI scores 3.5/5.0 overall with a 2.7 WLB. That’s a 0.4-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Ship Fast & Iterate, Engineering-Driven. Mercor also emphasizes Flat Hierarchy, Strong Comp & Equity. Scale AI also emphasizes Direct Product Impact, Learning & Growth.
On the hiring front, Mercor has 49 open roles and Scale AI has 175 open roles.