Must be passionate about space - Anonymous employee SpaceX Employee Review

3.0
Oct 25, 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- We’re going to Mars - Co-workers all share passion to provide economical access to space for all, pushing to make humanity a multi-planetary species - Inspiring and challenging place to work, pushes you to be your best - Positions carry much responsibility, get to work directly with hardware and shape the product - Health coverage, onsite medical care, gym membership - Free coffee and frozen yogurt, reduced price meals

Cons

- Salary not competitive for similar jobs in the area. Company equity offered but any new or recent hires are at direct disadvantage because equity doesn’t cover lost value of salary difference. Also be aware no 401k matching. - Work-life balance is less than ideal. Expectation is minimum 50 hour work week, tends to be more. OK for most because many employees don’t have families. - Start-up mentality continues despite being roughly 5,000 people, still set up to favor longer term employees through equity, promotions, parking near campus, etc. - If you are recent or new employee, you may have already missed the boat of opportunity for career growth or equity gain.

Explore other reviews about SpaceX

4.0
Apr 6, 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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