Blue Origin reviews

3.2

46% would recommend to a friend

(1,210 total reviews)

Dave Limp

35% approve of CEO

40% positive business outlook

Blue Origin has an employee rating of 3.2 out of 5 stars, based on 1,210 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Blue Origin employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Aerospace & Defense industry (3.6 stars).

Reviews by job title

1K reviews
4.0
Jan 12, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The people are the absolute best part of working at Blue. Yes, there's lots of cool technology and the opportunity to be directly involved in creating even at the floor manufacturing level. Depending on the design engineer you work with, your input will be incorporated into their designs. Others however, are less resistant to accepting input from the manufacturing team. One of the most senior designers at the company had a nickname for the entire manufacturing team: "drill monkeys". Once you got to know him, it was readily apparent that he actually had great respect for us. He was grateful when we brought up issues with his designs and gave us all the support we needed to correct the error and move on. The "drill monkeys" term was his chosen method of banter and was a relic of his previous experience at a large local aircraft manufacturer. Some people took it very poorly when they heard this term. I chose to flip it around and banter right back at him when it was appropriate. Until the day he left the company, I had a great relationship with him.

Cons

As in all companies, there are downsides. In my observations, the single largest area for improvement is to have less focus on fringe personnel issues. While I fully support a fair and equitable workplace where everyone feels safe/comfortable working in a place, Blue had a tendency to let a few individuals have an outsized say in what was and was not acceptable in the workplace. It was a very accurate mirror of what was going on in American society in general and not unusual. Unfortunately, these few individuals made a conscious effort to inflate their discomfort at the expense of others, sometimes to the point of people being fired for very minor offenses. In some cases, a great deal of very valuable knowledge was lost and could no longer be used to further the company's goals. All things considered, a loss for the company. Other than this one area, Blue's problems are normal for this industry. They have a good management team that when able to focus on moving the company forward, do great things. When they are distracted by a few thin skinned and self mayrtying indivduals, they are forced by societal pressures and make bad decisions to protect themselves.

2.0
Oct 13, 2022

Space is cool

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Space is awesome. And you get to work on space things.

Cons

Lifeless work environment, grueling pace of unending work. Going over and above is the expectation. This company used to have so much heart and character when it was a small aerospace R&D startup vibe. Now it feels like any big box aero Corp. The kool-aid on the inside that you are told to drink is that your work has a grand purpose for bringing humanity to the stars, Reminescent of NASA's glorious 1960s era . However the harsh reality of the company's current public image is that you're the ones losing to SpaceX, and you're building a phallic shaped rocket to send billionaires to space while corporate classicism ravages the world. It's hard to cope with that. And the diversity is really a problem. I worked on a team of about 40 men and 1 woman. Make of that what you will.

1.0
Feb 25, 2022
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Blue Origin compensates well above the average within the industry. It is a great place to learn through frequent failures (what NOT to do).

Cons

Working within Finance at Blue is constant crisis mode. Senior Leadership has not helped in providing consistent documented practices, cost management, or a review cadence. Every financial practice differs between BUs, that don't talk - so it's very probably to get rutted working for a single area. Approvals on budgets are unclear - so you cannot provide guidance to your peers on whether they can/cannot make updates to their estimates or even procure essential hardware. Among mid-grade financial leadership I've witnessed swearing, condescension, and other non-professional characteristics. Working in Finance is less about supporting the business and more about supporting your boss. The general sense is that to progress you need to save-face and play politics.

Viewing 145 - 147 of 1,210 Reviews

Glassdoor has 1,385 Blue Origin reviews submitted anonymously by Blue Origin employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Blue Origin is right for you.