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
29 June 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.

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All