Too Much for too little - Anonymous employee SpaceX Employee Review

3.0
27 Oct 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

CEO is a great guy, medical benifits are great , Vacation allowance is generous, coworkers are good people Great place for the young unexperienced ,you can learn alot from the few well experienced employees . Get your experience at the same time getting paid well for having little skills .

Cons

Been working mandatory min 60hr work weeks for as long as I can remember. They dont pay most of their experienced employees what they are worth, but have no problem paying the unexperienced about the same. If you have a degree in anything or a ANP license they will pay you decent even though you might never need it , You could do non skilled labor ,but get payed for highly skilled labor. The only way to get a whole weekend off in my department is to call in sick as Saturdays are mandatory. They ask for suggestions but never even acknowledge by responding . I have 35 yrs in the trade & 4yrs at SpaceX , Ive trained several people which I think is wrong as I have not been taught anything about my trade from spacex, They say they recognize my talent & my dedication ,hardwork etc, but I am told they can not give me more money , but they hire new people around the same pay with zero experience. I am currently looking & applying for employment elsewhere. I have had 3managers,5 supervisors, & several leads in the 4yrs I have been in the same department, which I cant get transfered out of . How can I get a real review if management is always shuffling around.

Explore other reviews about SpaceX

5.0
5 Jul 2026
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CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The vision No desk jobs here Powerful company with determined employees Pays below avg and for full time employees and extract as many hours as they can

Cons

Long hours can be challenging if you don’t have a good manager or understanding partner Stocks are good Vacation starts with 3 week/year On site food is not bad Sabbatical at 5 years

5.0
29 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

* **Unmatched Mission & Impact:** You are literally working on rockets and spacecraft. The cool factor is 10/10. * **Brilliant Coworkers:** You will be surrounded by some of the smartest, most driven engineers in the world. * **Insane Career Growth:** SpaceX on your resume is a golden ticket. You will learn more here in 3 months than in 3 years at a normal company. * **Hands-on Experience:** They actually trust interns with real, critical hardware. No boring coffee-fetching tasks.

Cons

**Cons:** * **Zero Work-Life Balance:** 70-80 hours a week is the norm, not the exception. Say goodbye to your social life and sleep. * **Extreme Burnout:** The "hustle culture" is toxic. You are expected to treat the company as your entire life. * **Mediocre Pay:** The hourly pay is average, especially when you factor in the insane hours and the high cost of living in LA/Hawthorne. * **Chaotic Management:** Decisions can change overnight based on whatever Elon Musk tweets or feels like doing that morning.

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