Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 401(k) match: 6% max
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 401(k) Retirement Plan · TMO · CIK 97745
Maximum employer match, as a share of pay
6%
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. matches 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 6% of pay.
From the Form 11-K filed June 23, 2026 ↗, covering the plan year ended December 31, 2025. Page data last updated July 28, 2026, when the Form 5500 bulk data was last refreshed. Why filings lag
On this page: what the employer actually paid in · the formula, word for word · when the money becomes yours · who can join · what the plan reports to the DOL · how it compares · what to do next
What Thermo Fisher Scientific puts in, and what the plan costs
What Thermo Fisher Scientific put into the plan, per active participant
$5,090
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. put $5,090 into this plan for each of its 52,390 active participants in plan year 2024. This is the whole employer side of the plan: matching money, profit sharing, non-elective and safe-harbor contributions, and reallocated forfeitures. The Form 5500 does not separate them, so this is what the employer put in and not the match.
Thermo Fisher Scientific put in more per active participant than 87% of plans with 5,000+ participants in wholesale trade. The middle plan in that group of 100 reported $2,549. Wholesale trade comes from business code 423400, which Thermo Fisher Scientific entered on its own Form 5500. Sponsors pick that code themselves, so a code that does not describe what the employer does ranks the plan against the wrong companies.
Matched to this employer by sponsor name, not by an identifier stated in the filing. This record could cover another plan of the same employer.
What this figure cannot separate: how much Thermo Fisher Scientific pays, and how much it puts in
This is dollars, not a rate. A Form 5500 carries no payroll, so the figure reflects both how much the employer puts in and how much the employer pays: two plans running the same formula report different amounts when one pays better. Crossing the peer group with industry holds most of that difference still, and none of it disappears.
This is one plan year, not an average. A true-up, a plan merger or a one-off contribution moves a single year on its own.
Source: DOL Form 5500 for the plan year ended December 31, 2024, EIN 042209186, plan 001 · DOL EFAST2 ↗
The $5,090 above is the Form 5500 figure for plan year 2024, and it counts every employer dollar on one line. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. also files a Form 11-K, which states the match formula for plan year 2025: the card below reads $2,970 a year at a $49,500 salary. That second figure is what the formula pays one worker on that salary, and not an amount either filing reports. The two figures cover different plan years and measure different things, so neither one is the other one corrected.
What Thermo Fisher Scientific puts in
$2,970
a year, at a $49,500 salary.
The match paragraph, word for word
“The Company’s discretionary matching contribution is equal to 100% of the first 6% (5% for new participants entering the Plan on or after April 1, 2026) of eligible compensation for pre-tax and Roth participant contributions to the Plan. New participants are required to complete one year of service to qualify for the Company matching contribution. The Company’s matching contribution is invested into various investment options, including investment funds and the Company’s common stock, according to the participant's investment elections. Participant contributions and Company matching contributions are deposited into the Plan on a bi-weekly basis or weekly for those employees on a weekly payroll. Effective April 1, 2026, Company matching contributions are deposited into the Plan semi-annually. In addition, participants are generally required to be actively employed on June 30, and December 31, to receive the match; however, participants who separate from the Company due to death, disability, or retirement will receive their match earned as of such date.”
What you contribute to collect all of it
Contribute at least 6% of your pay to collect the full match.
That is $2,970 a year at a $49,500 salary, and it scales with your own.
Vesting score
71.43 out of 100
How fast the employer’s money becomes yours. Higher than 32% of the 253 schedules we have scored.
It measures vesting speed and nothing else. It says nothing about the size of the match, what the plan charges, or the funds inside it.
Share of the employer's money that is the worker's at hire and at each of the first 6 anniversaries: 0%, 0%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%. The score is the average of those 7 readings.
Vesting, word for word
“Participants are immediately vested in their pre-tax, Roth, catch-up, and after-tax contributions, as well as rollovers of previous employers’ eligible qualified plans, and any income or losses on those balances. Participants become 100% vested in the Company’s matching contributions, plus any income or losses on those balances, after two years of service.”
A worker hired today collects no match for 1 year. This is a filed term, and it does not move the score above.
Eligibility, word for word
“U.S. employees (as defined by the Plan) of the Company and its participating subsidiaries are generally eligible to participate in the Plan upon their date of hire (or rehire).”
The wait before the match starts and the year-end true-up appear above when the filing states them. Neither is part of the score, and a filing that is silent on one of them is not a plan without it.
What the plan costs, against plans of its size
29th percentile
$35.59 per participant in plan-paid administrative cost, cheaper than 71% of plans with 5,000+ participants.
What is Thermo Fisher Scientific's 401(k) match formula?
Thermo Fisher Scientific's 401(k) employer match tops out at 6% of pay. The match is deposited each payroll. One rate up to one limit is the commonest of the four shapes a match formula takes.
| Match formula | 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 6% of pay |
|---|---|
| Maximum employer match | 6% of compensation |
| Deposited | Each payroll |
| Paid in company stock | No, paid in cash or per your investment elections |
| Conditions | Match is described as discretionary and applies to pre-tax and Roth contributions. New participants must complete one year of service to qualify. Participants must generally be actively employed on June 30 and December 31 to receive the match (waived on separation due to death, disability, or retirement). For new participants entering the Plan on or after April 1, 2026, the match is 100% of the first 5% of eligible compensation, and effective April 1, 2026 matching contributions are deposited semi-annually |
At a $60,000 salary, contributing 6% ($3,600) earns the full employer match of $3,600 for the year.
Thermo Fisher Scientific appears in our match-change tracker. We keep a dated page for it: Thermo Fisher Scientific cut the 401(k) match for new participants, effective April 1, 2026.
What the filing says, word for word
“The Company’s discretionary matching contribution is equal to 100% of the first 6% (5% for new participants entering the Plan on or after April 1, 2026) of eligible compensation for pre-tax and Roth participant contributions to the Plan. New participants are required to complete one year of service to qualify for the Company matching contribution. The Company’s matching contribution is invested into various investment options, including investment funds and the Company’s common stock, according to the participant's investment elections. Participant contributions and Company matching contributions are deposited into the Plan on a bi-weekly basis or weekly for those employees on a weekly payroll. Effective April 1, 2026, Company matching contributions are deposited into the Plan semi-annually. In addition, participants are generally required to be actively employed on June 30, and December 31, to receive the match; however, participants who separate from the Company due to death, disability, or retirement will receive their match earned as of such date.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 23, 2026, SEC EDGAR, corroborated by the filing's inline-XBRL facts · SEC ↗
What is Thermo Fisher Scientific's 401(k) vesting schedule?
Thermo Fisher Scientific vests the employer match on a cliff schedule: nothing is yours until two years of service, then 100% at once. Leave a day early and the employer money goes back to the plan, the edge a two-year cliff creates.
| Employer match vesting | Cliff: 100% vested after 2 years of service |
|---|---|
| Your own contributions | Immediate: always 100% yours |
Vesting, word for word
“Participants are immediately vested in their pre-tax, Roth, catch-up, and after-tax contributions, as well as rollovers of previous employers’ eligible qualified plans, and any income or losses on those balances. Participants become 100% vested in the Company’s matching contributions, plus any income or losses on those balances, after two years of service.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 23, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
Who can join Thermo Fisher Scientific's 401(k), and is enrollment automatic?
Thermo Fisher Scientific enrolls new hires automatically at 3% of pay.
| Plan entry | U.S. employees (as defined by the Plan) of the Company and its participating subsidiaries are generally eligible upon their date of hire (or rehire) |
|---|---|
| Match eligibility | New participants are required to complete one year of service to qualify for the Company matching contribution |
| Automatic enrollment | Yes: default deferral 3% of pay; default investment: Designated asset allocation trust fund |
Eligibility, word for word
“U.S. employees (as defined by the Plan) of the Company and its participating subsidiaries are generally eligible to participate in the Plan upon their date of hire (or rehire).”
Automatic enrollment, word for word
“The Plan includes an auto-enrollment provision whereby all newly eligible employees are automatically enrolled in the Plan unless they affirmatively elect not to participate in the Plan. Automatically enrolled participants have their deferral rate set at 3% of eligible compensation and their contributions invested in a designated asset allocation trust fund until changed by the participant.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 23, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
What does the Thermo Fisher Scientific plan report on Form 5500?
The Thermo Fisher Scientific plan reported $10.3B in assets and 52,601 participants for plan year 2024.
Matched to this employer by sponsor name, not by an identifier stated in the filing. This record could cover another plan of the same employer.
| Plan named in the DOL record | Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 401(k) Retirement Plan |
|---|---|
| Total plan assets | $10,263,366,209 |
| Participants | 52,601 |
| Recordkeeper | Fidelity Investments |
| Plan-paid admin cost per participant | $35.59 |
How that cost compares
This plan pays $35.59 per participant. The median across plans in wholesale trade is $149.72, from the 3,304 of 3,490 whose Form 5500 yields a per-participant cost.
The plan reports Fidelity Investments as its recordkeeper, one of 10,593 plans it runs in the data we publish. Of those, the 10,022 with a computable fee have a median plan-paid cost of $97.71 per participant.
How does Thermo Fisher Scientific's 401(k) match compare?
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.'s maximum 401(k) match of 6% of pay compares with a median of 4.5% across the 181 companies in our data with a computable formula.
Employers worth reading next
Of the six employers below, three file in wholesale trade, two report the same recordkeeper and one vests on the same schedule.
Maximum match 5% of pay. Also in wholesale trade.
Maximum match 5% of pay. Also in wholesale trade.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Also in wholesale trade.
Maximum match 6% of pay. Same recordkeeper, Fidelity Investments.
Maximum match 6% of pay. Same recordkeeper, Fidelity Investments.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Same 2-year cliff as Thermo Fisher Scientific.
Compare Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. with any company, side by side
What can you do next?
Check your own balance and contribution rate at Fidelity NetBenefits ↗, the recordkeeper this plan reports.
- Read the Form 11-K on SEC EDGAR ↗
Form 11-K filed June 23, 2026, SEC EDGAR. Every match fact on this page comes from it.
- Changed jobs? Find an old 401(k) ↗
The Department of Labor's Retirement Savings Lost & Found, a free government database.
- This year's IRS contribution limits ↗
The official deferral and catch-up limits every formula operates under.
- Download this data (CSV)
Formula, vesting and source references for this company, one file.
Questions this filing answers
What is Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.'s 401(k) match?
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. matches 100% of employee contributions up to 6% of eligible pay (plan year ended December 31, 2025).
When does the Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 401(k) match vest?
Cliff: 100% vested after 2 years of service.
Does Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.'s 401(k) plan have automatic enrollment?
Yes: default deferral 3% of pay; default investment: Designated asset allocation trust fund.
Cite: 401(k) Monitor, “Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 401(k) plan facts”, from SEC Form 11-K accession 0000097745-26-000126, plan year ended 2025-12-31.