Toxic - Anonymous employee Rocket Lab Employee Review

Fortunately, the New Zealand Government Employment Relations Authority's (ERA) determination in May of this year over the dismissal of a key engineer is a matter of public record. It reveals very useful detail about Rocket Lab's culture, values, and approach to NZ employment law. It also means we don't have to rely solely on the questionable reviews and claims made by HR in this site. - ERA: The engineer's dismissal was “extremely unfair” and "substantially and procedurally unjustified" - ERA: "Rocket Lab appeared to have deliberately calculated that it was better for it to 'buy off' [the engineer] by offering him $10,000 for not enforcing his legal rights rather than taking any steps to comply with the performance management process set out in his employment agreement" - ERA: The good faith breaches involved were “brazen and blatant” and “deliberate and intentional” - ERA: Rocket Lab chief executive Peter Beck ordered his dismissal - ERA: Rocket Lab breached all four of the procedural fairness tests for dismissal in the Employment Relations Act; breached minimum good faith requirements; breached its own contractual obligations and employment policy - ERA: "A clear example of a company intentionally abusing its power to cause detriment to an employee" - ERA: "[The engineer] was abruptly dismissed and given no information about the reasons why... was improperly pressured to compromise his claims against Rocket Lab for a derisory amount... his employment was ended immediately and he was escorted off the premises in front of other staff" - Rocket Lab was ordered to pay the engineer almost $100,000 I would encourage anyone looking to join Rocket Lab to read the full ERA determination (it is public and widely reported). It also goes into the human costs of the effect on the engineer's health and family. Otherwise: - Rocket Lab is not a meritocracy; also, management notions of "hard work" appear to be entirely subjective and go unrewarded if you aren't doing engineering work - and engineering managers are blind to high value work that isn't engineering - Poor people management skills across the board - Huge lack of diversity - just look at a recent all-hands photo - Poor perks and benefits: Other NZ technology companies have long surpassed what Rocket Lab offers (and it's surprising hearing from the reviews here what RL employees consider benefits) - Low pay for the hours involved and quality of work needed - Cynical application of shares - I put in a sustained effort for three years (to the detriment of my personal life and health) and got nothing