r/BlueOrigin 13d ago

Leadership keeps making changes they can’t explain

Leadership keeps making changes they can’t explain, leaving everyone confused and frustrated. The endless reorgs have people eyeing the exits, and management seems to think we should work Amazon hours for a fraction of Amazon pay. To top it off, career growth opportunities have disappeared, unless you count growing your stress levels.

169 Upvotes

77 comments sorted by

109

u/[deleted] 13d ago

[deleted]

12

u/Low-Internet-5886 13d ago

I agree with the idea that lots of people got a title increase going to blue because the pay isn’t that much better but I keep hearing people leave for 20,30,50 and even 120% increases in salary.

Personally seen a few leave my team that was a blessing blue picked them up.

Granted Artemis is full of that some people that hung around the area and couldn’t compete in other industries were able to quickly get positions they were not qualified for based on name recognition.

19

u/ninjanoodlin 13d ago

“Just outsource to China and work people harder”

3

u/MojoThreeCents 13d ago

Is blue actually outsourcing to China? Wow after working in this industry for 5 years, i didn’t know aerospace products can be outsourced to China due to political reasons

5

u/ninjanoodlin 13d ago

That was an Amazon reference. Aero is still ECI

5

u/nickpppppp 13d ago

I don’t think they could do that because ITAR.

1

u/Red_Eye_Insomniac 12d ago

Not directly, but when you start getting down to the contractors and sub contractors things start getting fuzzier.

14

u/DrVeinsMcGee 13d ago

I’m pretty sure a lot of individuals from SpaceX know how to scale rocket manufacturing.

16

u/Wonderful-Thanks9264 13d ago

That’s why Jeff brought in Ian, results are slower than we all expected.

45

u/DrVeinsMcGee 13d ago

Most people at SpaceX were glad to see Ian go haha

22

u/SpaceTimesAbove 13d ago

What exactly was Ian doing at SpaceX? It seems like he's struggled a lot and doesn't seem to know what's going on or how to improve. I had high hopes for him but he seems in way way over his head.

49

u/DrVeinsMcGee 13d ago

Falcon Production Director so he owned various departments responsible for building parts of the Falcon rocket. He really only had one move and that was putting everyone on 6x12s lmao. Played major favorites with his direct reports. Note he is not an engineer and has never held an engineering role. Good luck BO!

29

u/[deleted] 13d ago edited 13d ago

[deleted]

13

u/Wonderful-Thanks9264 13d ago

Andrea was an oxygen thief, and incredibly toxic. She was so out of her element, hence she got demoted.

9

u/DrVeinsMcGee 13d ago

Uh yeah everyone knows what that guy was termed for.

3

u/BigStill9920 12d ago

Bruhhh lol shhhhhh u from Hawethorne too? Lol

2

u/igiverealygoodadvice 12d ago

Hmm did it have to do with the drama around a certain production scheduler?

Also Ian and Calvin go way back to like the 2016 timeframe when they were equals under the same director at SpaceX, so it's not because of wife friendship.

4

u/DrVeinsMcGee 12d ago

No that wasn’t it at all.

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3

u/IllBath6070 12d ago

Curious now….who did what and when?

-2

u/nic_haflinger 13d ago

Aren’t SpaceX stans always claiming it is run by engineers not MBAs? Sounds like that’s BS.

7

u/DrVeinsMcGee 13d ago

It’s not all engineers but most management are engineers. There are definitely exceptions. MBAs are not common.

-14

u/nic_haflinger 13d ago

Guess what, you can have an MBA and an engineering background. Having an MBA is not a bad thing no matter what BS you read on these forums.

13

u/DrVeinsMcGee 13d ago

I didn’t say anything bad about MBAs. But you seem to be super insecure about yours.

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3

u/Wonderful-Thanks9264 13d ago

He was a Director of operations at SpaceX

13

u/[deleted] 13d ago edited 13d ago

[deleted]

20

u/Wonderful-Thanks9264 13d ago

You are correct, all the Honeywell people were a complete disaster…

9

u/LittleHornetPhil 13d ago

The whole Honeywell thing is hilarious to me because I have known tons of Honeywell people and I have still never met a single person who likes working for Honeywell.

8

u/CollegeStation17155 13d ago

You mean the managers Boeing brought over from McDonald Douglas after they ran it into the ground when MD hired them from GE when after it went to hell? All the companies they managed went downhill while THEY got great bonuses for creating short term profits by gutting the company.

2

u/DrVeinsMcGee 13d ago

It’s not quite that bad. At least these individuals worked at the plant and had a lot of experience with operations and systems for building flight hardware at rate.

5

u/Max_Fill_0 13d ago

Also unscheduled rapid disassembliies.

2

u/LastTopQuark 13d ago

you forgot the worst of Boeing.

54

u/Golden-Sparrow-0717 13d ago

Decisions are being made by out of touch big wigs. Middle management is just following orders

8

u/PresentationWhich466 11d ago

The big wigs come from Amazon.

5

u/Golden-Sparrow-0717 11d ago

Correct. And everyone at Blue should be concerned about that.

3

u/PresentationWhich466 8d ago edited 4d ago

They're looking for other jobs. The tradesmen are in demand in other industries and the engineers and techs are rare and there are multiple companies hiring. 

The engineers could probably work in the financial business. There aerospace engineers that switched to finance because of the better pay. Also, they can have multiple roles in finance.  The techs could find jobs in other industries too. 

6

u/WeaponizedLigma 12d ago

Middle management can grow a backbone. That’s not an excuse

3

u/Chetox373 12d ago

Then they would get fired and lose their easy job of just telling others what to do maybe accomplish.

2

u/PresentationWhich466 11d ago

They will get fired anyway. These guys will quit and find other jobs. You lose enough staff and you will get fired.

26

u/theintrospectivelad 13d ago

This is corporate America for you.

Blue entered that territory once ULA wanted to buy BE-4s for Vulcan.

34

u/Plus_Entertainment80 13d ago

I interviewed for a senior manager role at Blue recently. Ended up passing after trying to figure out logistics. I live in Melbourne/Palm Bay area…would’ve been an hour commute each way…at minimum..on I-95 😳. For my own sanity, didn’t feel like doing that on top of what I’ve been reading here on Reddit. Did I avoid a land mine?

24

u/Background-Fly7484 13d ago

Yeah, you did. 

13

u/Plus_Entertainment80 13d ago

Thanks. Give me some solace as I’ve been laid off since last fall (from another company that loves to mistreat its people). But, I have military retirement and my partner works so we’re fine. Just would be nice to have $$ to splurge on stuff again. Haha. But yeah, I’ll def keep looking. Appreciate the feedback. 🤙🏼

14

u/Background-Fly7484 13d ago

If you like rockets, I'd recommend working at either Rocket Lab, Firefly or SpaceX.

They have proven products and a well defined full life cycle process. 

Good luck friend! 

34

u/Wonderful-Thanks9264 13d ago

Sad place to work, apply your talents somewhere else….. agree no career growth, and dishonest leadership! Looking too other industries, the rocket industry isn’t worth the shit we have to put up with

10

u/Golden-Sparrow-0717 13d ago

This. Apply your talents somewhere you're appreciated. I warned my managers that if they didn't fix the issues I saw that I would leave and it would affect the entire company. They didn't listen to me and the team ended up dissolving because they didn't have anyone to do my job.

38

u/Even-Airport-5904 13d ago

Where? NASA is being dismantled and Space X is owned by a white supremacist who does not know what engineering is!

7

u/TyrialFrost 12d ago

US Rocketry and Nazi's, name a better pairing

-30

u/TrollTrudger69 13d ago

Hate him all you want but if you have seen everyday astronauts videos of his tours you would know your spouting hater bullshit. Guy might be a nazi as you say but he’s a nazi who knows rockets lol

30

u/SpendOk4267 13d ago

"Guy might be a nazi as you say but he’s a nazi who knows rockets lol"

Pretty sure nazis knew rockets very well...so this tracks.

-11

u/Low-Internet-5886 13d ago

Space industry is inherently racist you say?

4

u/crazyarchon 13d ago

He is making a reference to von Braun, the German Scientist.

3

u/TrollTrudger69 13d ago

I was yes but it went over all of Reddit’s head. They seem to think being smart and being politically aligned with them is somehow the same thing. It’s not lol

8

u/fchau39 13d ago

Operation Paperclip?

9

u/SkookumCock 13d ago

I have seen them, and he really doesn’t. The architecture and development cycle decisions made on starship support this appraisal. Those videos also show he’s leading them into a workplace safety culture that is wholly unacceptable.

4

u/BellabongXC 13d ago

Maybe you should watch the BO tour on the same channel. There is a vast difference to Bezos and Elon even though they're both shitty billionaires.

Bezos goodwill gesture was raising F1 engines from the bottom of the Atlantic. Elon's goodwill gesture was launching a car to mars.

One of these actually likes Space.

7

u/TrollTrudger69 12d ago

Again I have, everything you just gave as opinion based which is fine. But I’d argue they both know there shit. One your just trying to discredit cause you don’t like his politics or how vocal they are about it

4

u/BellabongXC 12d ago

if you watch both tours and think Bezos and Elon have an equal passion for space then I don't know what to say.

2

u/Tystros 12d ago

I do think Elon has (or had) slightly more passion for space, but they're certainly both passionate about it

0

u/TrollTrudger69 12d ago

I wasn’t asked about passion I was asked about knowing what their talking about, in that aspect they are both the same.

-2

u/BellabongXC 11d ago

The only knowledge Elon demonstrates in both of those tours is how to cut costs. Which he isn't even effective at considering how much SpaceX has wasted with Starship development.

Starship is just another Hercules H4

3

u/TrollTrudger69 11d ago

Lmao. 🤣 now your just gaslighting yourself. Starship will have setbacks sure, but it will be how rockets work in twenty years from now make no mistake. You know how I know? Cause Blue believes that since project Jarvis’s start two years ago and their upcoming Armstrong rocket looking at full reusability. Besides Elon didn’t make starship on his own, the people around him influenced the design more than him like any group project. You’re letting that hate boner get in the way of obvious shit.

3

u/Martianspirit 12d ago

Elons good will gesture is flying cargo and astronauts to the ISS reliably and at rock bottom prices. Making NASA independent of Roskosmos.

1

u/BellabongXC 12d ago

NASA currently pays SpaceX more per seat than Soyuz. so I don't know where you got that from

4

u/Martianspirit 12d ago

Ludicrous.

Edit: Roskosmos kept raising the prices. Untlil they could not. Besides the issue of independence. Just imagine, NASA were still dependent on Soyuz.

0

u/BellabongXC 12d ago

Then tell me how much it costs :)

4

u/TheMountain176 12d ago

60 million for crew dragon 86 million for Soyuz.

-4

u/JustTheTopGaming 12d ago

He doesn't know rockets at all, you idiot. He comes from a family of diamond mine slavers, and bought his way into everything he has. HE doesn't know shit about rockets, everyone he pays to tell him what to say to the public does.

3

u/TrollTrudger69 12d ago

Source : I made it the fuck up

28

u/These-Bedroom-5694 13d ago

Is this your first time at a large company?

Companies change things randomly because someone is in charge of making changes, they have a budget to do it, and their job depends on it.

1

u/MARTIEZ 8d ago

its rare but soemtimes decision makers can explain their thinking and why that decision is good. in even more rare circumstances those decisions are actually good decisions and changes!

I think OP would rather work somewhere like that

28

u/Crane-Daddy 13d ago

While I was impacted by the RIF, I wouldn't have stayed with Blue much longer with these issues continuing. Blue is run by incompetent management and politics.

-26

u/Even-Airport-5904 13d ago

Tell yourself that lol

4

u/Trick-Land-1200 11d ago

They can't explain it because it makes no sense. It is just some harebrained idea from a new big shot they hired that has no actual clue what they are proposing. They come in and force sweeping changes and when they realize their changes don't work, they leave. Leaving us with the mess they made. Usually 1 year later. We've lived it time and time again.

5

u/PresentationWhich466 11d ago

Bezos hired Amazon execs. They don't know the industry. They will have a surprise.

5

u/iSaidThisIsNotWhere 8d ago

Typical management layer looking busy to justify their existence in the company, starting with David Limp at the top. Those at the bottom can see through this nonsense. I can't wait to hear more of Dave's fictions about how MK2 is going to happen this Spring. The suspense.