I highly recommend it- the culture is much better than academia or industry in my opinion, having experienced all three. You get to work on big projects that di

I highly recommend it- the culture is much better than academia or industry in my opinion, having experienced all three. You get to work on big projects that directly target big problems in the world, with the best equipment and facilities in the world. There is less politics vs academia, and less careerism- people mostly love what they are doing, and are excited about it. Generally great benefits, pay, and work-life balance. Also, the national labs model gives you a chance to work on big teams with people from diverse backgrounds, which is a lot of fun. For example, a software engineer may find themselves working day to day with physicists, biologists, etc. and learning enough about these fields over time to make novel contributions to them.