Don’t drink the Kool-Aid - Test Technician SpaceX Employee Review

2.0
27 July 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Rockets are cool Benefits are good Lots of great people work there Good food Mission Patches

Cons

- Unsafe working conditions (it is common consensus that someone is going to get killed by an industrial accident soon enough, too many close calls) - Tedious backbreaking work - Work too much work for too little pay - They nickel and dime you for compensation, I heard of a guy taking his 5th job offer, and pay is all very secretive there. - Very difficult to move up or out of your dept because they hoard their good workers - promotions are at a snails pace, and they don’t treat their people right. 2 minor promotions in 5 years without a decent bump in pay is normal. Without an actual engineering degree, you can’t move up very far. Advice to potential hires: The turnover rate is high for a reason, the cool factor of SpaceX wears off after about a year, and they don’t want free thinkers as techs, if you’re looking to make a difference, look elsewhere.

Explore other reviews about SpaceX

5.0
10 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Incredible benefits, career movement is based on merit, stocks, mission focused, jobs with a measurable purpose, and incredibly passionate individuals

Cons

Clout-chasing and prestige among certain management and team members, greatly underestimate the magnitude of scale often.

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.

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All