4 ms·

It's pretty well documented that people at SpaceX work 80+ hours a week consistently: https://www.quora.com/How-many-hours-a-week-does-a-typical-SpaceX-enginee

It's pretty well documented that people at SpaceX work 80+ hours a week consistently: https://www.quora.com/How-many-hours-a-week-does-a-typical-SpaceX-engineer-work https://www.quora.com/How-many-hours-a-week-does-a-typical-S... http://spacenews.com/op-ed-3-things-to-know-if-you-want-to-work-for-spacex/ http://spacenews.com/op-ed-3-things-to-know-if-you-want-to-w... https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/25ixxq/is_spacex_working_environment_toxic/ https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/25ixxq/is_spacex_wo...

antisthenes 10y ago
Wouldn't be surprised if some overworked engineer made a mistake.
- woodchuck64 10y ago
  We're just past the anniversary of the last mishap: http://www.spacex.com/news/2015/07/20/crs-7-investigation-update http://www.spacex.com/news/2015/07/20/crs-7-investigation-up... I also get the feeling that extra sleep and recovery time encourages the kind of creative thinking that recognizes unusual ways for things to go wrong and corrects for them in advance.
- marvin 10y ago
  Wouldn't surprise me in the least. I know Musk claims that "working at Tesla/SpaceX is like being in the special forces", but there's no way that every employee at these companies has the work capacity to stay 100% focused through 80 hour work weeks all the time.
- rpazyaquian 10y ago
  I agree. I bet that the 80+ hour work weeks are going to result in death someday.
joering2 10y ago
Thank you. So they are paid overtime for this, is that correct?
- throwanem 10y ago
  The hourly employees, sure.
- ceejayoz 10y ago
  Not if they're salaried, which most of them probably are.
  - TeMPOraL 10y ago
    :O. So US doesn't have paid overtime on a regular salary work?
    - ceejayoz 10y ago
      Not if you're covered by the "white collar exemption", which any engineer-type is going to fall under. Folks working 80 hour weeks at startups don't get any overtime for it.
  - joering2 10y ago
    They why are they being allowed to work for free? Is that even legal in USA? Aren't they obligated by OSHA and USDOL to be paid for the time they work??
    - ceejayoz 10y ago
      Not if you're covered by the "white collar exemption", which any engineer-type is going to fall under. Folks working 80 hour weeks at startups don't get any overtime for it.
- wolf550e 10y ago
  Engineers are not paid overtime. Technicians often are paid overtime.
groby_b 10y ago
Not only that, it's also not really a secret that SpaceX attracts people who want to enter the space industry. You get experience there, you move on. Yes, they have experienced people too, but overall, turnover is high for a reason: https://hackerlife.co/blog/tech-employees-turnover/Los-Angeles-CA https://hackerlife.co/blog/tech-employees-turnover/Los-Angel...
- TeMPOraL 10y ago
  > Not only that, it's also not really a secret that SpaceX attracts people who want to enter the space industry. You get experience there, you move on. Which is exactly the kind of people that SpaceX does not want and who should not apply there. The turnover is high for a reason indeed.
  - groby_b 10y ago
    If SpaceX wants experienced people, they should try the whole stick of decent hours and decent pay.

antisthenes 10y ago

Wouldn't be surprised if some overworked engineer made a mistake.

woodchuck64 10y ago
We're just past the anniversary of the last mishap: http://www.spacex.com/news/2015/07/20/crs-7-investigation-update http://www.spacex.com/news/2015/07/20/crs-7-investigation-up... I also get the feeling that extra sleep and recovery time encourages the kind of creative thinking that recognizes unusual ways for things to go wrong and corrects for them in advance.
marvin 10y ago
Wouldn't surprise me in the least. I know Musk claims that "working at Tesla/SpaceX is like being in the special forces", but there's no way that every employee at these companies has the work capacity to stay 100% focused through 80 hour work weeks all the time.
rpazyaquian 10y ago
I agree. I bet that the 80+ hour work weeks are going to result in death someday.

joering2 10y ago

Thank you. So they are paid overtime for this, is that correct?

throwanem 10y ago
The hourly employees, sure.
ceejayoz 10y ago
Not if they're salaried, which most of them probably are.
- TeMPOraL 10y ago
  :O. So US doesn't have paid overtime on a regular salary work?
  - ceejayoz 10y ago
    Not if you're covered by the "white collar exemption", which any engineer-type is going to fall under. Folks working 80 hour weeks at startups don't get any overtime for it.
- joering2 10y ago
  They why are they being allowed to work for free? Is that even legal in USA? Aren't they obligated by OSHA and USDOL to be paid for the time they work??
  - ceejayoz 10y ago
    Not if you're covered by the "white collar exemption", which any engineer-type is going to fall under. Folks working 80 hour weeks at startups don't get any overtime for it.
wolf550e 10y ago
Engineers are not paid overtime. Technicians often are paid overtime.

groby_b 10y ago

Not only that, it's also not really a secret that SpaceX attracts people who want to enter the space industry. You get experience there, you move on. Yes, they have experienced people too, but overall, turnover is high for a reason: https://hackerlife.co/blog/tech-employees-turnover/Los-Angeles-CA https://hackerlife.co/blog/tech-employees-turnover/Los-Angel...

TeMPOraL 10y ago
> Not only that, it's also not really a secret that SpaceX attracts people who want to enter the space industry. You get experience there, you move on. Which is exactly the kind of people that SpaceX does not want and who should not apply there. The turnover is high for a reason indeed.
- groby_b 10y ago
  If SpaceX wants experienced people, they should try the whole stick of decent hours and decent pay.