SpaceX: it's not a job, it's a lifestyle. - Engineer SpaceX Employee Review

5.0
8 Nov 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

*Incredible Company Mission* This matters a great deal for some and not as much for others. You do not realize how much this matters until you have it or you have it then lose it. Every employee has a high level of responsibility and the company survives on person-by-person accountability; if you have ever worked in an environment where this is not the case, you realize how vital this is for success and your sanity. Innovative Engineering, High-Rate Production & Polished Operations with an R&D soul - for engineers and those who enjoy technical challenges this is an amazing environment. World Class Talent and highly dedicated teams with a variety of backgrounds - we have traditional aerospace and college track employees, we have those with highly non-traditional paths into engineering, we have incredible IT, HR, Finance teams as well. We have a culture of 'Best Idea Wins' and where high performing individuals from any industry are welcome as we value the variety of viewpoints vs. only those from aerospace.

Cons

Easily one of the best decisions i've made in my life, however simply put: it's not for everyone. Even for those who *love* Space, SpaceX is not for everyone. The hours are long, weekends and holidays are often impacted, it is difficult to plan non-work, but the accomplishments are amazing. The pace is fast, super fast and every single individual and team must have great attention to detail or do you not last long. Progress and demands are unrelenting. Every single person is managing multiple projects at any given time, and all of them have aggressive performance targets - if you are bad self time-management, even with the best manager you will not be happy. Work-Life balance. Most people choose to work the hours they do because most are task saturated, sometimes they are driven by passive peer pressure (the whole team is working, one feels guilty taking more time off than others and letting the team down). i cannot remember the last regular work week of <40 hours.

Explore other reviews about SpaceX

5.0
17 June 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

good place to work and earn money

Cons

Heavy workload and long time work

4.0
6 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You learn so much because the work is so freaking intense, its a lot of fun if you're the type of person who loves to get emerged in hard problems. The hours for me were not too bad but I was the exception, all the other interns I was with dealt with 60-70+ hour weeks, some interns came in at 10am and left at 12am, when I say its intense, I'm not joking. This is however very unique to the Starbase location. I've heard Hawthorne is a lot more chill. I honestly despite how challenging the role was always look back on it with a sense of pride in my work, and longing to be back there. It really does feel that you're doing world changing things.

Cons

Very un diverse upper management, I'd say the company is pretty diverse in the lower ranks, but once you start to look at the org chart and see who's in charge, you realize that its mainly just white people. Makes you wonder if as a person of color you too will be able to move up. Housing sucks: there was limited housing on campus for full time employees, you have to wait a year plus to get off the queue and once you're off you only really get tiny homes as the option that are in an inconvenient location. Interns don't even have the option to get on campus housing, they give you 3k in a housing stipend and expect you to find a place in Brownsville. I'd say its very hard to maintain a relationship while working here if you don't have an understanding partner, the work schedule is brutal and you really can't slack off.

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