25
eNPS Score
Q&A With SpaceX Employees
SpaceX is looking for world-class talent ready to tackle challenging projects that will ultimately enable life on other planets. SpaceX is an equal opportunity employer offering competitive salaries, comprehensive health benefits and equity packages.
How employees describe working at SpaceX
Make sure the space is available to complete the promises made to stakeholders
Incredible learning opportunities and experiences, however the work is very difficult, and the pace is typically not sustainable. The mission is to get to Mars, and it feels like employees are the cost of that mission, rather than a valued part of that mission.
Knowledge, expertise, reliability, talent, and location
It's hard to feel good when your main spokesperson hates people like you.
It's out of this world
What it's like to work at SpaceX
- SpaceX employees generally work 10.8 hrs a day
- Employees at SpaceX report the work pace is extremely fast
- On a typical day, employees at SpaceX have 1 meeting
- 81% of SpaceX employees look forward to interacting with their team every day
- SpaceX employees most often take 15-20 paid vacation and sick days each year
- 12% of SpaceX employees report they are happy with their work life balance
- SpaceX employees typically get valuable feedback on how to improve at work Every Week
- 72% of SpaceX employees call their work environment positive
Q&A With SpaceX Employees
IDX: 0 TOT: 69
How can I improve my chances of being hired at SpaceX?
Top Employee Response
Be original, show passion, show understanding of SpaceX history and culture, and how you fit
Work for a minimal pay
Just say yes for a little compensation and long hours. Beware though because they will tell you that you'll make money in overtime but don't tell you how burned-out you'll get by depending on that paycheck filled with overtime to pay your bills. Regular 8 hour days and 40 days a week do not exist at SpaceX
If you could make changes, how would you improve the culture at SpaceX?
Top Employee Response
Invest in training for all new employees both engineering technicians quality and specialty technicians to understand software programs, culture & safety protocols. Mainly for management to understand the needs of the hourly; most importantly all technicians and provide them with adequate pay and not stocks. Upper management does not seem to realize that stocks do not make a car payment. Upper management is very disconnected when it comes to understanding the needs of all those who make than $23 an hour or less than 1k a year. Not everyone at SpaceX can even consider driving a Tesla.
There is a culture devide between engineering and others which is not recognized by those like Zack Dunn. Especially that SpaceX does not pay competitive wages most especially in California! In addition; Management/engineering needs to realize the differences in when they have time off verses others; we can't afford the cabin at the resorts or vacationing as they do. We have to maintain our homes and vehicle; we can't afford mechanics & gardeners and luxuries as they do. Days off are often spent on upkeep because we have to do our own and shop at the bargin grocery stores. They just don't get it.
Pay industry standard wages, 40 hour work weeks and hold planners accountable.
What are you most excited about working at SpaceX?
Top Employee Response
Using it as a stepping stone for better employment
Looking forward to the day when I can leave
I was most excited about the mission of space exploration. That is still a passion of mine.
What's the best part of your job at SpaceX?
Free lunch
Free lunch
Having a day off to sleep in
What's one thing you wish you'd known before joining SpaceX?
How to sided things really are; what you see on one side is not the whole reality of how things are
The real taste of the Spacex Kool-Aid.
about the "Good ol boys" club, and how sinister it is.. its very deep and rooted from HR throughout the site in McGregor Texas, I don't know about Hawthorne.. I can only speak about my own experience.
What's the office vibe like at SpaceX?
Top Employee Response
Mostly a positive environment, though the daily operations push the limits of human patience, endurance, and skill.
All rah-rah without the understanding of its true realities
Those who work in the office are nice to each other but this is not an office atmosphere time of company because of office people, launch operations people, and manufacturing people.
What interview questions does SpaceX ask?
General questions
Can you work long hours
I was asked about my technical experience and how that could apply to the position. There were some personality questions such as how you handle disagreements, etc.
What do people at SpaceX think about the CEO? What do they do well and what can they improve?
Stop being so disconnected from the hourly who only get paid less than $25 an hour. Those people are actually afraid to speak up to their managers because of retaliation for speaking up
Management and engineering think they're great however the rest of the company are not happy with their current situations.
I do not know enough to answer this question objectively.
What's the company culture like at SpaceX?
Divided
Those around me and other locations other than the main office are very low and morale
Already answered this.
Did the recently fired or laid off employees deserve it?
No people quit because they're fed up which has been on the increase
Probably
I am currently unaware of firings or layoffs. No opinion.
Who did you meet with during your interview? And how long did it take to hear back from SpaceX?
Immediate supervisor and Lead
A team leader and one week
I met engineers, technician leads and human resources.
What benefits does SpaceX provide?
Adequate
Fair benefits
health, life insurance, copay you pay so much a month depending on how much you wish.. comes out of your pay.. and stocks after a year, you get 11 stocks vested, and you must pay tax on, then after that you get 5 every 6 months..
How do you feel about going to work at SpaceX everyday?
Can't wait to get hired by another company who pays better and doesn't require you to work 50 to 60 hours a week
Exhausted and tired
felt like going to hell everyday.. and going home, like going back to heaven!!
How difficult is it to maintain a social life while in your job at SpaceX?
Don't have a social life because of SpaceX
Nonexistent because I work too many hours
what social life? unless you are liked and in with the "Good ol boys" you don't get invited to anything!! once in a while, spacex has a party.. for all employees.. but otherwise, you are alone!!
How much diversity is there among employees at SpaceX?
Lot of white folks
Enough I guess
I will say, diversity is quite expansive within spacex.
What unique perks and benefits does SpaceX provide?
Elon will gladly knockoff a couple thousand dollars off a Tesla; as if many of us could really afford one which is a joke and quite insulting
you get coffee, chips and peanuts anytime you want...
Nothing that matters, choose where you want to work based on meaningful things like environment, benefits, coworkers and salary
How's the morale at SpaceX?
Great at upper management horrible for those technicians at the launch sites
Low, very low
non-existent.. especially within Inventory in Mcgregor Texas..
How helpful was your Operations team when you were first hired at SpaceX?
Adequate but soon fell apart when the real realities of being scheduled driven with minimal pay and required overtime was realized
Okay but soon fell apart due to being scheduled driven rather than quality driven
It's always been a sink or swim kind of place
How does SpaceX measure success and growth in the Operations department?
schedules
Meeting schedule deadlines even though quality suffers
Work hard and say nothing
How are layoffs handled in the Operations department at SpaceX?
One day you're there the next you're gone
One day you're there and the next you're gone. Wage increases that were promised never even happened to many that were laid off
They find reason and walk you out the door
Why work for SpaceX?
Adequate stepping stone for other companies
Stepping stone for other companies
Usually it's because it's a stepping stone to another opportunity. most people will work anywhere if they're desperate for a job and it's easy to drink the SpaceX Kool-Aid at first.
What skills do you need to be successful in the Operations department at SpaceX?
Being able to work through the minutiae and work the required mandatory overtime which will provide you with a undesirable work-life balance
Never disagree even when you know you're right
Ability to adapt, debate (w/o being an a**), comprehend others ideas and work with the team. The most difficult situation one has to deal with at SpaceX is the mashup of backgrounds and personalities. In alot of the rocket industry you tend to notice a trend where as the personnel working together have similar backgrounds, where SpaceX employees could have been sheet metal workers but now work in propulsion. Someone who was a tire tech at a Big O tires is now running avionics. Having the ability to work along side someone who doesn't necessarily hold the same background as you is what makes operations the most challenging and requires a skill set of patience and adaptation. That and when you find out your years of swapping parts, systems and running maintenance for squadrons means you'll start at 18-20$/h, you'll need to bring your skill of sitting down and rotating.
What are your coworkers at SpaceX like?
Frustrated
Morale is very low
They were supportive of all projects that the team was involved in. Even if they were not directly assigned to it. In essence, they were very eager to collaborate.
What part of SpaceX's business is growing fastest? What part is having difficulties?
All new programs or developing programs need to have much better discipline. SpaceX at this time should not even try to put people into space because they lack in the real discipline to provide that service
The manifest of flights is growing the fastest but the infrastructure to support development, qualification and acceptance testing was not. There was a lot of juggling priorities on the daily level and is cause for a lot of lost efficiency.
Flight operations is growing fastest. I think the one with the greatest difficulties would have to be the support/Inventory part. I believe the focus has been to flight and not enough on Inventory, which desperately needs help in the management/supervisor, leadership roll especially in McGregor Texas.
How's the work pace at SpaceX?
Demanding
Non-stop
hard work, and tedious work... you are working to make and keep your supervisor/manager happy, and trust me.. that is impossible!!
Curious about what work's like at SpaceX?
Anonymously Ask SpaceX Employees Any Question
Should I work at SpaceX?
55% of SpaceX employees would encourage their friends to become coworkers, whereas 15% are neutral and 30% would not recommend working at SpaceX to their friends.
| 55% | Promoters |
|---|---|
| 15% | Passive |
| 30% | Detractors |
