A sprint towards vesting - Mission Ops SpaceX Employee Review

2.0
8 Feb 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Considered to be an elite company to work for. Stock options. Working everyday at a rocket factory. Looks good on a resume.

Cons

Stock options only matter if you can stick around long enough to vest. Aside from Elon, extremely poor management. 'Stuff' rolls down hill, in every group. There is a strange mentality that celebrates being the last person in the office - like whoever leaves last somehow wins... Employees are given very few tools to do job they are tasked to complete. Extremely high turnover before the initial 12 month vesting period - something like 75% of people who get fired get let go prior to vesting. Very little opportunity to advance your skill set; they hire people who are experts in a particular field, and expect them to work 80 hours a week stagnating in that skill set. VP's are almost exclusively hired into the company, not promoted from within. Did I mention extremely high turnover / burnout? Expect to be 'managed' toward your exit. If a superior becomes displeased with you for performance or personal reasons, you will be placed on a 'Performance Improvement Plan' and given a job outside your core competencies, then given 30 days to reach unreachable goals and let go. I was really pumped during the recruiting process, and the first few months in the job were thrilling. But, SpaceX is a grind and it is a really tough place to be successful. There are a lot of great companies out there, nearly all of them take better care of their people. Oh ya, Hawthorne sucks. South Central Los Angeles is a great place to be if you want to get car jacked.

Explore other reviews about SpaceX

5.0
3 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good pay Good experience Hands on work

Cons

Long hours Intense management No sleep

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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