Pros
-Good benefits -Relatively good salary -Some interesting people -Flexible work-from-home and hybrid work models due to Covid and after initial hesitation -Global brand, for some reason still reputable in some corners -Dynamic, hard-working, and involved founder (not without his issues)
Cons
-Total lack of humanity and disrespect of people in general and staff despite claims otherwise. Exploitative and abusive environment. -No ethics or morality, they will take money from anywhere and say or claim to do anything for it. -Non-transparent salary structure. Not uncommon for staff to find out that they are making way less than their colleagues even though they are doing more work. -Very limited advancement opportunities. Most people come to XPRIZE to go elsewhere, not stay. -Almost no impact for over 25 years of existence. Launching the "private space industry" because of the first XPRIZE is a laughable "achievement". During those 25 years the world witnessed so much technological advancement (mobile phones?), and they still claim that a couple of rich people going into orbit has transformed the world. -Except for the founder, and putting aside his issues, no one in the leadership has any vision or strategy. -Current CEO is an amateur. Her only achievement is that she was rich enough to pay $20 million or so to go to space and fund the first XPRIZE. Clearly does not have experience or skills to run such an organization. -Current CEO's salary in 2019 was $600K. Which non-profit CEO, especially of 50-100 staff, makes more than half a million dollars a year? And for what? -During Covid, they fired and furloughed a dozen or so employees and reduced salaries because of finances. In early 2021, they removed from the website the amounts top earners at the company were making because they don't want to show the bonuses the executives received at the end of the year. -Initial Covid days CEO did not want to close the office because, according to her, XPRIZE make the impossible possible and therefore are courageous to confront Covid and do things others don't. Shows you how much she cares about her staff's well-being. -Until much later in 2020, CEO kept insisting that the office will open and employees return, even when numbers were off the charts, insisting that staff were more likely to get infected with the virus at the gas station than in the office. -At the beginning of Covid, the company was looking into software to remotely monitor productivity of staff. -Extremely high turn over, the typical employee does not last more than 2 years, or maximum 3. This is partly because you get fired for no reason or just because there's someone else who's willing to do your job for less. Another reason is that you realize the reality soon after joining and leave at the earliest opportunity.
