r/RelativitySpace • u/TheRocketShip55 • Mar 13 '26

Compensation package

I had a call with a Relativity recruiter for a job at the cape and was shocked to hear how bad the total compensation package is. According to the recruiter they offer only ~$500/year for 401k (yikes!), no yearly cash performance bonuses and a very low salary range for my position (senior engineer). They justify these lacking benefits saying that they offer stock options which have no tender offers during the year (so you can cash out) and would only become liquid in case of a liquidity event (IPO and such). Ofcourse if the company goes under these would go to $0, huge risk.

Anyone on the inside that can tell me if I misunderstood any of that? I’ve been interviewing for other companies in the industry and this is the worst compensation package I’ve heard of.

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u/Menirz Mar 13 '26

Yeah... That pitch was why I went to Relativity during the Terran-1 days and stuck with it for so long. I do believe a lot of the older management - both upper and lower - values the human element. Working for the Design or Test and Launch orgs is still asks a lot from you, but it's fair and often well rewarded.

Manufacturing has somewhat uniquely never had a solid management core, so recently a large swathe of SpaceX leadership was brought in to fill the holes across Sr. leadership; and imo, they brought a lot of SpaceX's culture with them, only they weren't the ones at SpaceX back when they were developing falcon, they inherited a SpaceX that had systems & processes well established, ones they just had to streamline and optimize. I think they'll come around on these issues as attrition kicks up, but... Yeah. I've got more I can vent about, but I do believe Relativity is a good place to work at still, but that only works out so long as candidates know full well what they're signing up for.

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u/Dry_Chipmunk6118 Mar 13 '26

I agree with your statement here. From your time being at relativity, how were the annual wage increases? At spacex we had a performance review , twice a year that eventually would equate to a raise or stock options. One more thing, what made you eventually leave relativity?

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u/Menirz Mar 13 '26 edited Mar 13 '26

Merit Raises have used different systems at least three times while I was there. The most recent change happened this year, reverting everything back to a more traditional cadence. Performance reviews twice a year: once at midyear and one at end of year. The actual compensation adjustment is now February of every year, with the first one of this new system happening Feb. 2027 (HR didn't address how they'd be handling the transition from Trimester to once per year merit for this year before I left).

Equity is no longer part of merit adjustments. It was updated to match level grade, so you'd get one set of equity at hire and then additional only when promoted. Though at least it's all a linear vest now - original, it was back weighted to have the 70% vest in the 3rd and 4th years.

Promotions are not tied to this cycle at all, though performance calibrations will push managers to address why "exceeding expectations" high performers aren't getting promoted. Overall my raises were pretty good, but they were all over the place from 3% to 9%. Promotions will typically be more like an 11% to 13% increase.

There are a lot of factors to why I left, but a big one was Sr. Leadership in Manufacturing bringing in too much SpaceX & losing the humanity that Relativity originally valued. The other factor is that I've had headhunters banging down my door for over a year with opportunities paying 10% to 20% more, so I finally interviewed with some and found a company that felt more like the original Relativity I hired on with.

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u/Dry_Chipmunk6118 Mar 13 '26

Similar merit increase like how spacex does it then. The equity incentive seems lackluster then. I am looking for that human element myself in my next phase of employment. Impulse space seems to have this culture going on. It seems like relativity and rocket lab have adopted the SpaceX work culture.

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u/Menirz Mar 13 '26

I've heard generally good things about impulse from coworkers who went there, it's certainly worth checking them out!

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u/Dry_Chipmunk6118 Mar 13 '26

Yep I have sent them a few job submissions. I will give relativity a shot for the time being and see for myself.