Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – When Jeff Bezos, founder of Blue Origin, flew into space late last month, the company had lost its best talent.
CNBC International notes that at least 17 key leaders and senior engineers have left Blue Origin this summer. Most of them moved within weeks of Bezos’ spaceflight.
Two of these engineers, Nitin Arora and Lauren Lyons, this week announced that they had landed jobs at other aerospace companies: Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Firefly Aerospace. Meanwhile, others have been quietly updating their LinkedIn pages over the past few weeks.
CNBC International has confirmed every unannounced departure of the leaders to those with knowledge of the matter. The departures include New Shepard Senior Vice President Steve Bennett, Head of Mission Assurance Jeff Ashby (retired), National Security Sales Director Scott Jacobs, New Glenn Senior Director Bob Ess, New Glenn First Stage Senior Director Tod Byquist, New Glenn Bill Senior Finance Manager. Scammell, Production Testing Senior Manager Christopher Payne, New Shepard Technical Project Manager Nate Chapman, and seven other engineers.
Those who announced their departure from Blue Origin did not explain why. However, reasons for frustration with executive management and a slow bureaucratic structure are often cited in employee reviews on job site Glassdoor. Some of the engineers who left were part of Blue Origin’s astronaut lunar lander program.
However, a company spokesperson emphasized Blue Origin’s growth in a statement to CNBC International.
“The Blue Origin team grew by 850 people in 2020 and we have added another 650 so far in 2021. In fact, we have almost quadrupled in the last three years. We continue to fill key leadership roles in manufacturing, quality, design engine, and vehicle design. This is the team we built and we have great talent,” the spokesperson said.
(wia)
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