SpaceX - Structures Engineer SpaceX Employee Review

3.0
17 Oct 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

We do some of the most awesome work in the world and you will get as much responsibility and ownership as you can handle. I've learned so much in the almost 6 years that I've worked here and I'm very grateful for that. We're on the cutting edge of technology and really changing the aerospace world. Benefits package is actually quite good.

Cons

As many say the hours can be daunting and the pressure from management to meet unrealistic deadlines is relentless and that flows from the top down. Work life balance here can be miserable if you succumb to the pressure and the expectation that you're on call 24/7 which is not sustainable. Because of this many good people burn out and leave the company. There's no clear path for any career development at this company. Seemingly people get promoted by either being the most senior person in the group or that they work more hours than everyone else. But for every one of each of these there's someone who got promoted for seemingly no reason at all. Generally pay is low compared to many other industries including our own and we use the "cool" factor as justification for not paying people as much. The equity argument is now essentially irrelevant as most of us with a meaningful amount of equity have vested and any new offers are comically small in comparison. Plus this is not a publicly traded company so..... yea.

Explore other reviews about SpaceX

5.0
29 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

* **Unmatched Mission & Impact:** You are literally working on rockets and spacecraft. The cool factor is 10/10. * **Brilliant Coworkers:** You will be surrounded by some of the smartest, most driven engineers in the world. * **Insane Career Growth:** SpaceX on your resume is a golden ticket. You will learn more here in 3 months than in 3 years at a normal company. * **Hands-on Experience:** They actually trust interns with real, critical hardware. No boring coffee-fetching tasks.

Cons

**Cons:** * **Zero Work-Life Balance:** 70-80 hours a week is the norm, not the exception. Say goodbye to your social life and sleep. * **Extreme Burnout:** The "hustle culture" is toxic. You are expected to treat the company as your entire life. * **Mediocre Pay:** The hourly pay is average, especially when you factor in the insane hours and the high cost of living in LA/Hawthorne. * **Chaotic Management:** Decisions can change overnight based on whatever Elon Musk tweets or feels like doing that morning.

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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