NASA reviews

- Work experience and environment are heavily dependent on your specific office and manager. Poor performers and toxic managers are rarely managed appropriately to improve or exit. - Workloads are often imbalanced due to the limited budget and a historical culture of 'get it done at any cost'. NASA has overworked itself into a corner after decades of delivering 'more for less', and the cracks are starting to show in both infrastructure and employee wellness. - The org structure is designed in a way that promotes tribalism and infighting over limited resources among the different mission directorates, centers, and mission support organizations. - Executive-level decision making and change is tremendously slow and risk avoidant due to the above mentioned tribalism combined with crowded council meetings required to get decisions approved.

Government red tape is real, particularly when working with export control matters as an agency that must collaborate with foreign agencies. Occasionally you will come across (work with) the one person who was promoted via the good ol' boy club. Everyone knows who this person is. This person leaves a gaping hole in the organization where an incredible amount of productivity is lost. It's not often that you come across this person, but you will know when you do. As a federal employee, you are political fodder, most in especially in 2026. I have seen an absolute brain-drain happen in the federal government under this administration (Trump 2.0). Myself included. Truly a sad time to be a federal employee. The flip side is that this can change with a new administration if you can stick it out.