SpaceX
Hawthorne, CA · founded 2002
SpaceX's Hawthorne site is the original headquarters and the primary factory where Falcon boosters and Dragon capsules are built on an open floor — the roles here are fully onsite by design, with remote and hybrid explicitly ruled out. It is a mission-driven, intense place: compensation leans on private-company stock and an employee stock purchase plan rather than high base salary, benefits are solid (comprehensive medical/vision/dental, 401(k), disability, life, paid parental leave), and time off is modest at three weeks of accrued vacation. Employees consistently praise the learning curve and rapid growth but flag long hours and thin work-life balance as the real cost of admission.
see the full file on SpaceXdocumented benefits (13)
| Birthing-parent leave | offered |
|---|---|
| Equity | both |
| Stock purchase plan | yes |
| Dental | yes |
| Vision | yes |
| Disability | yes |
| Life insurance | yes |
| Days in office | 5 |
| Office policy | Fully onsite; the Hawthorne engineering and manufacturing roles state remote and hybrid work will not be considered. |
| PTO | 15 days |
| Unlimited PTO | offered |
| Offices | Hawthorne, CA, Palo Alto, CA, Redmond, WA, Woodinville, WA, Starbase, TX, McGregor, TX |
| Campus or amenities | Headquartered for engineering and manufacturing at 1 Rocket Road, Hawthorne, CA — SpaceX's original headquarters and primary Falcon rocket and Dragon capsule factory, where hardware is built on an open factory floor. |
notable perks
- Build rockets on the open Hawthorne factory floor — SpaceX's original HQ and primary Falcon booster and Dragon capsule manufacturing site
the legal floor where they are
Set by law, not by SpaceX. It applies to every employer in CA.
| IVF cycles the state covers | California requires IVF from 1 January 2026, and only from large employers. SB 729 (2024) rewrote Health and Safety Code § 1374.55 so that a large group health care service plan contract 'issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2026, shall provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of infertility and fertility services, including a maximum of three completed oocyte retrievals with unlimited embryo transfers', following ASRM guidelines and using single embryo transfer where medically appropriate. Large group means 100 or more employees. Small group plans need only be OFFERED the coverage rather than provide it, religious employers are excluded, Medi-Cal managed care is exempt, and CalPERS plans are delayed to 1 July 2027. The original 1 July 2025 date was pushed back a budget trailer bill, AB 116 (2025). THE LIMIT THAT DECIDES WHETHER THIS REACHES YOU: a state insurance mandate binds only fully insured plans. A self-funded employer plan is governed federally under ERISA and is preempted, and KFF's 2025 employer survey puts 67% of covered workers — 80% at firms of 200 or more — in a self-funded plan. At most large California employers this law therefore does not apply, and the fertility benefit on the page is the company's own choice. (Senate Bill 729 (2024), which repealed and added Section 1374.55 of the Health and Safety Code and amended Section 10119.6 of the Insurance Code; the operative date was moved from 1 July 2025 to 1 January 2026 by Assembly Bill 116 (2025).) |
|---|---|
| Adoption leave the law gives | 12 workweeks of UNPAID job-protected leave in any 12-month period on the placement of a child for adoption or foster care, and only for employees who meet the FMLA eligibility test. There is no federal paid adoption leave. (Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. 2612(a)(1)(B) and 2612(c); eligibility at 29 U.S.C. 2611(2) and (4). Quoted from the 2023 edition of the US Code.) |
| Pay when you are ill | No federal law requires any paid sick leave. The FLSA does not require payment for time not worked, and the FMLA gives 12 workweeks of UNPAID job-protected leave in any 12-month period for a serious health condition, and only for employees who meet the FMLA eligibility test. Any paid sick time comes from a state or city law, or from the employer's own choice. (Fair Labor Standards Act, per the Department of Labor's statement on payment for time not worked; Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. 2612(a)(1)(D) and 2612(c). Quoted from the 2023 edition of the US Code on govinfo.gov.) |
Every claim above is sourced and dated. See sources on the full page.
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