SpaceX reviews

3.8

67% would recommend to a friend

(521 total reviews)
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Elon Musk

75% approve of CEO

81% positive business outlook

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521 reviews

Reviews about "Compensation"

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1.0
May 4, 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The building is well kept and clean. Free lunch once a month.

Cons

Poor hiring practice/high rate of turn over. The Company hires people based on lowest bidder, this causes tremendous amounts of problems for experienced people having to work long hours due to having to pull the weight of less experienced people.I know this happens everywhere but not in the extent that is present at SpaceX. Poor Management, Managers do not know what is going on the floor. To compound the problem of hiring/promoting unqualified persons to management. The high rate of turn over in all managerial position means SOP are always changing and there is no set way of doing things. As you can imagine this creates a big problems for people on the floor trying to achieve "production" like manufacturing. On the floor as a technician, the company will change your working hours very frequently. One month it could mean you are working 8 hours a day 5 days a week. Then the next month you could be working 80 hour weeks. The hours make it very hard to balance work and personal life. Lack of equipment, self explanatory. Substantially below market in wages. On average you can expect to start 30% or lower below industry wages. The company's reasoning is you work more overtime and have stock shares to compensate the difference in wages. Every year they talk about going public the following year but never do, also the overtime is very sporadic. There are a lot more cons I can list, but it just feels like I am beating a dead horse so I will stop.

5.0
Mar 19, 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-Cradle-to-grave lifecycle of space hardware measured in months, not years or decades. I saw my designs fly to the ISS 8 months after I started. -A culture that prioritizes functionality and capability over flight legacy/risk aversion. This in turn drives innovation, elegant design, clever solutions, and utilization of emerging technologies. Completely avoids the "Well, we know this decade-old technology worked before, so we'll just use it in perpetuity," mentality that makes all good engineers sad pandas. -Highly meritocratic structure. Promotions, bonuses, and raises are based entirely on performance. (The only thing seniority gets you is nicer parking.) -Free frozen yogurt and coffee. Frequent free gourmet food. -Stock options. -Flexible (albeit lengthy) hours. Work-from-home options. -Working with the most intelligent, dedicated and (increasingly) accomplished engineers and technicians in the field. It is an honor and a pleasure to work with and learn from my team. Good sense of humor all around, too.

Cons

-Persistently lengthy work hours, occasionally brutal. (Orbital mechanics wait for no one.) -Some groups can develop a toxic interpersonal work environment when mismanaged for a long period of time. Not for people who: -Want to work a 9-5. -Can't work weekends at least some of the time. -Can't/won't innovate. -Need handholding.

2.0
Feb 8, 2013

A sprint towards vesting

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Considered to be an elite company to work for. Stock options. Working everyday at a rocket factory. Looks good on a resume.

Cons

Stock options only matter if you can stick around long enough to vest. Aside from Elon, extremely poor management. 'Stuff' rolls down hill, in every group. There is a strange mentality that celebrates being the last person in the office - like whoever leaves last somehow wins... Employees are given very few tools to do job they are tasked to complete. Extremely high turnover before the initial 12 month vesting period - something like 75% of people who get fired get let go prior to vesting. Very little opportunity to advance your skill set; they hire people who are experts in a particular field, and expect them to work 80 hours a week stagnating in that skill set. VP's are almost exclusively hired into the company, not promoted from within. Did I mention extremely high turnover / burnout? Expect to be 'managed' toward your exit. If a superior becomes displeased with you for performance or personal reasons, you will be placed on a 'Performance Improvement Plan' and given a job outside your core competencies, then given 30 days to reach unreachable goals and let go. I was really pumped during the recruiting process, and the first few months in the job were thrilling. But, SpaceX is a grind and it is a really tough place to be successful. There are a lot of great companies out there, nearly all of them take better care of their people. Oh ya, Hawthorne sucks. South Central Los Angeles is a great place to be if you want to get car jacked.

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