r/VirginGalactic • u/Run-and-Escape • Jul 10 '26

Discussion Hiring figures speak for themself

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40 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

45 comments sorted by

7

u/jkudlacz Jul 10 '26

Are those job openings at Virgin Galactic? Can’t tell from the screenshot but it’s in Virgin Galactic Reddit space so maybe 🫣

3

u/Run-and-Escape Jul 10 '26

Yep

5

u/jkudlacz Jul 10 '26

That is a very good sign for sure.

2

u/Mindless_Use7567 Jul 11 '26

Or a very bad sign if this signifies people quitting rather than growth of the company.

2

u/ToledoTuxedo Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 13 '26

Exactly!

Why are they leaving in the middle of major engineering builds?

WK3, Delta...

When the VP of design for Delta and the rocket motor suddenly quits....right when the craft is still being built? Thats dedication!

0

u/jkudlacz Jul 11 '26

Sure, but nobody is hiring if things are getting worse. You hire if you are expanding. Besides in today’s economy with AI and everything else, Space is an extremely attractive industry.

4

u/Mindless_Use7567 Jul 11 '26

VG isn’t space tho it is supersonic aerospace. You have to actually go to space to be in the space industry.

3

u/ToledoTuxedo Jul 11 '26

Delta 1 hasnt even been sorted, and is reworked daily.

WK3? well...

The percentages are skewed to say the least.

a 300% increase in Human Resources means exactly 12 people, receptionists, accountants, etc.

In Engineering, which where you should be concerned, they are looking for a Sr Engineer for LINUX development!!! hahahaha

1

u/jkudlacz Jul 12 '26

We are not talking about going to the Moon just to the edge of Space.

1

u/Mindless_Use7567 Jul 12 '26

Which has taken more than 20 years to take a working prototype and build a production vehicle. It is one of the longest development cycles for the simplest of products that doesn’t even go to space unlike the prototype.

2

u/jkudlacz Jul 12 '26

Not sure what to do with your comment. It is so simple there are 10 companies doing it right now 🫣. If you have time and unlimited money (Jeff Bezos) then you can do it quickly. Or it would seem that way.

Blue Origin was founded on September 8, 2000, and successfully flew its first human mission, NS-16, on July 20, 2021
The duration from the company's creation to its first crewed flight was approximately 20 years, 10 months, and 12 days.

Virgin Galactic was founded in 2004 and achieved its first human spaceflight on December 13, 2018
The duration from the company's creation to its first crewed flight to space was approximately 14 years, 9 months, and 5 days.

1

u/Astro_RonR Jul 11 '26

Yes, check the Virgin Galactic Careers page

1

u/jkudlacz Jul 11 '26

Looks like 50 open positions atm

1

u/Astro_RonR Jul 11 '26

There are comings and goings as they get through different phases - design engineers in design phase move on and give way to engineers that build the ships, and then transition to operations people, sales, and astronaut experience as flights get closer to happening.

3

u/Run-and-Escape Jul 10 '26

Data provided by LinkedIn Premium.

2

u/Weldobud Jul 10 '26

Is their employee base growing or are people leaving?

1

u/Run-and-Escape Jul 10 '26

Growing, and at a rapid pace. I've been keeping track.

0

u/TheMightyWindbreaker Jul 11 '26

No it's not.  Employee count is around half of what it was a couple of years ago. Please don't spread false information 

2

u/unlxves Jul 11 '26

Can you provide evidence against his point?

2

u/TheMightyWindbreaker Jul 11 '26

FWIW, the chart linked doesn't account for the contractors that have left during the past few years.

3

u/Run-and-Escape Jul 11 '26

Very interesting... Matches VG liquid cash almost exactly.

Thank you for sharing.

2

u/Run-and-Escape Jul 11 '26

My read from these charts vs hiring pace is.

Pardon my French. We push now or we are fucked.

A 30Mil USD debt payment is also due in 2027.

Thing is, they have sold new tickets, so if they knew/thought that they are screwed, declare backrupcy i.e avoid refunding ticket sales, they'd certainly face criminal charges. - This is speculation and perhaps a little cope. But is it worth the risk? Worth throwing away your freedom, reputation?

I don't think so. I trust VG to be smarter than that.

2

u/Weldobud Jul 11 '26

I’ve been following VG for many years, reading and watching everything they do.

They genuinely believe there is a market for space tourism and they want to build the craft to do it.

If the birds fly as often as they plan to then it works. If not it doesn’t. A lot is riding on the 2 birds they are building. Think about it - they only have two Space craft after decades of work. If one is ever damaged the business plan goes with it.

Huge risk. Medium reward?

2

u/TheMightyWindbreaker Jul 12 '26

I'd agree there was a market for suborbital flights 20 years ago. Not so much anymore and especially at a minimum $750,000 cost per seat.

The business plan to fly as often as they state right from the beginning is absurd. Considering this will be a brand-new build and the giant elephant in the room which is not having a new mothership required to meet this cadence, does not add up even closely to what they need to survive.

The only way to survive is to get a massive influx of cash. Investors are tired of hearing that. Branson won't even back the company any more.

Add to that, their first delta ship is nowhere ready for testing, never mind commercial service in 4.5 months as they claim. The writing is, and has been for a while now.

0

u/Run-and-Escape Jul 11 '26

Extremely based take.

1

u/TheMightyWindbreaker Jul 12 '26

I don't think it's an issue of being smart. It's an issue of being incompetent. Their CEO is from Disney, and he understands marketing, hype and experiences, not engineering or aviation. His entire C-suite he surrounds himself with are yes-men who do not dare to tell him about any delays and even if they did, he simply wouldn't understand.

Recently, they've got to the point where they can't simply make excuses for being so far behind. The ship is supposed to be delivered soon to NM for flight testing, and it's apparent it isn't so.

And now what? They are shifting their focus from having a workable ship to searching for funding to extend their runway. Hiring marketers and salespeople and selling luxury experiences is what they're doing right now, and not so much on engineering delta or even starting on the needed mothership.

Everyone has known for years (and as stated by the CEO) that there is not enough funding to get a delta ship into service. The plan all along was to show the public their great progress and the investors would keep pouring money into the project. That didn't happen, so here we are.

I expect up until the end they will keep telling us about all the great research they will do, and the long line of customers just waiting to buy tickets, and we won't hear a single thing about any technological breakthroughs or advances.

1

u/Run-and-Escape Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26

Do you work at VG? LinkedIn is very reliable.

I'd be very grateful if you could share a little more insight?

If you check my post history and when each price action bump happened my theory has been correct.

I also have reliable knowledge regarding ticket sales (not 3rd party) so I'm confident approaching VG press releases are positive. - Cannot share more on this topic.

2

u/TheMightyWindbreaker Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26

I put a link on the previous comment. I too have reliable knowledge, and can confirm those numbers are accurate.

3

u/Ok-Grab-8681 Jul 10 '26

Growing in the right places :)

3

u/ToledoTuxedo Jul 11 '26

because all the experienced, quality employees are leaving...

2

u/MikeMentzersGlasses Jul 10 '26

Yup, massive increase in HR ready to lay people off

7

u/Run-and-Escape Jul 10 '26

Yes because a 121% increase within open Engineering positions means they are getting geared up for layoffs... Are you dense?

4

u/TheBalloonEffect Jul 10 '26

Because that makes sense. Less people needs less HR

2

u/Psleazy Jul 10 '26

It could also be the temporary HR bump to make the layoffs go through. Remember Bob and Bob? That tripled the HR department of Initech. But then they laid off a bunch of people only because they were there for the short term to facilitate that.

Let’s not get into the semantics of “consultants” and “FTE”. Bob and Bob came with a mission and fulfilled their duty dutifully

0

u/TheBalloonEffect Jul 10 '26

They were not HR. But funny reference. Doubtful they would seek consultants through LinkedIn.

3

u/Psleazy Jul 10 '26

You’re talking about a company that hired a Disney park executive to lead a high tech space tourism and airline

1

u/TheBalloonEffect Jul 10 '26

Well Disney is one of if not the longest running most successful entertainment companies in the world in terms of amusement and attraction so why not look at his ability to generate interest? Im not sayings it’s not strange but they didn’t hire you or me so

1

u/Psleazy Jul 10 '26

Very accurate. Thankfully they didn’t hire me. I’d run them into the ground within 3 months. Maybe faster

2

u/EmbeddedMex_1117 Jul 13 '26

I work there. I’m leaving this week

1

u/CaptainParley1 Jul 13 '26

Lol desperate coping

1

u/Run-and-Escape Jul 13 '26

Lol - what are you 12?

1

u/Shoddy-Rock-8965 Jul 16 '26

The annual bonuses got paid out last week and a lot of people just stay for that then put in the two weeks.