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      Rocket Lab

      Engaged Employer

      Rocket Lab reviews

      3.6

      68% would recommend to a friend

      (262 total reviews)
      avatar

      Peter Beck

      95% approve of CEO

      74% positive business outlook

      Ratings by demographic groups

      Rocket Lab has an employee rating of 3.6 out of 5 stars, based on 262 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Rocket Lab 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

      262 reviews
      1.0
      Apr 29, 2020

      Looks good, on paper!

      Engineer
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      You can pour everything you have into this company as if it were your livelihood

      Cons

      They build rockets to make the shareholders more money it has a fantastic business model, Rocket Lab is a middle finger to those who said little wee New Zealand couldn't do it. But it comes at a cost, Rocket Lab runs on the hopes dreams of young workers. I've seen work mates bullied in the office, abandoned by their spouses and frequent burnt-outs from too much pressure. There's no team building, huge lack of proper training and a cult-ure of young professionals one-upping each other. Most admit to feeling undervalued, disposable and temporary. If you are inexperienced you may be eaten alive and no-one from any position of power will mentor you. It takes the majority of starters a while to see through the smoke they blow up your behind. If you're not a shareholder walking in the door beware, the carrot in front of you may be moving. If you're offered the job you're obviously talented, but that's just the start because now you have to prove through song and dance that you're better, louder and more committed than your peers. Everyone's pushing hard to be rewarded, but all that seems to matter is if your manager likes or respects you. In the past I was lucky if I had a performance review within a 12 month time frame. Regardless of how infrequent, reviews are well versed "you're doing really good, thanks, here's something we can use to justify an insulting variation to you salary". It feels like a throat punch and not the type you need, much like your performance review it will be limp and uninspiring. Managers are too busy to lead, most are still learning how to be effective managers. You will need to figure out how to survive on your own and build a resistance to the low morale. You will start about 20-30k less than you should, you will not be rewarded, you will play catch-up for the rest of your career, consider that while living in Auckland.

      avatar
      Rocket Lab Response
      6y
      Hi there, Thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We're sorry to hear that you feel that your time at Rocket Lab has so far not lived up to the hype and excitement you felt coming into it. Naturally we do encourage our staff to work hard - we're the global leader in small sat launch and we couldn't have achieved our 100% mission success rate, which we are all incredibly proud of, without hard work. However, we certainly don't encourage anyone to ever push themselves so hard that it affects their family lives or their health. We always encourage employees who feel overloaded to speak to their manager, so workloads can be redistributed or additional support can be brought in. We also offer EAP services free of charge for all employees, to provide specialist support for anyone going through a difficult time. Regarding your thoughts on training, management and remuneration - we acknowledge that there are improvements to be made in these areas. That's why we are committed to creating more focused training materials and programs, including leadership training, this year. We are also currently in the process of launching comprehensive career mapping matrices, as well as a new performance review process, which will help us ensure that our team's skills and efforts are fairly recognised. Our staff are incredible people and we take great pride in knowing they are the best in the world. At a time when many of our competitors are making mass redundancies or closing their doors altogether due to the COVID-19 crisis, we have not made a single person redundant to date. This has come at a financial sacrifice for the company, but it is infinitely worth it to look after our people. Again, we're sorry to hear to hear that you're unhappy with the way you feel things are at the moment, but we are dedicated to change for the better of everyone at Rocket Lab, if you feel there is further feedback you would like to give, you are able to confidentially email us at peopleandculture@rocketlab.co.nz. We hope you will support us and stay with us to see the benefits these changes will bring in the future. - Rocket Lab People and Culture
      3.0
      Feb 17, 2021

      Disillusioned

      Engineer
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Engaging and varied work with multiple new projects always underway.

      Cons

      Skilled engineers ≠ skilled managers. The company still has a startup mentality/structure, yet has grown to a workplace of 500+. Minimal/no mentorship unless you luck out and work alongside some particular employees. Most systemic problems are overlooked due to the perceived prestige of working for a rocket company. Industry standard pay for work far above industry standard. Poor stock options.

      avatar
      Rocket Lab Response
      5y
      Hi there, Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review, it's great to hear that you are enjoying your work here at Rocket Lab. We appreciate your feedback regarding mentorship and management, we have introduced a Leadership Training Program that is currently being rolled out to all the company's leaders. We also rolled out a Culture Survey at the end of 2020 and set up a taskforce that employees volunteered for to help address development opportunities. This task force has come up with a range of changes to be implemented within the organisation by the end of the year, so you will see these initiatives being rolled out! Thanks again for your feedback and all your hard work. -Rocket Lab People and Culture
      3.0
      May 16, 2019

      Sickest office in Auckland

      Design engineer
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      The work is always interesting and it’s a place where young engineers develop skills quickly.

      Cons

      - Nobody takes sick leave ever due to the imaginative deadlines from management. There are always many people in the office getting everyone sick. - Payrises this year were terrible, many staff got less than inflation even in such a successful year for us.

      Viewing 127 - 129 of 262 Reviews
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      ReviewsRocket Lab reviews

      Glassdoor has 302 Rocket Lab reviews submitted anonymously by Rocket Lab employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Rocket Lab is right for you.