The Biggest Space Companies by employees...

[StarryKnight]

Northrop Grumman's Space Sector site says 23,000 employees (roughly 1/4 of all of NG)
https://www.northropgrumman.com/who-we-are/business-sectors/space-systems/#:~:text=Quick%20Facts%20About%20the%20Sector,Approximately%2023%2C000%20Employees

I couldn't find Lockheed Martin's Space Division numbers separated out from the total company, but Wikipedia has Space at 16,000 which is at least on the order of magnitude of Northrop Grumman.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_Space

Boeing is even tougher to determine since Wikipedia lump military aircraft and security with space in their organization table. Wikipedia has that group at 15,000, about the same as LM. But LM separates their space and aircraft divisions. So Boeing's space only business is much smaller.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing

[mkent]

Boeing is even tougher to determine since Wikipedia lump military aircraft and security with space in their organization table. Wikipedia has that group at 15,000, about the same as LM. But LM separates their space and aircraft divisions. So Boeing's space only business is much smaller.

No.  The 15,000 number is only for BDS headquarters in St. Louis.  It also has major facilities in Philadelphia, Mesa, Huntsville, Houston, El Segundo, Long Beach, and Seal Beach and minor facilities in locations throughout the country.  In addition, a significant fraction of the BGS work is defense-related (e.g. the A-10 and QF-16).  Figure about a third of the company is defense or space related.

To estimate the space-related employment at Boeing, add up the employment levels at El Segundo, Seal Beach, and Houston and then add half of Huntsville and Florida.  That's about the best you're going to do without internal data.

[meekGee]

I'm not sure what we're comparing here.

Only three of these companies - SpaceX, BO, and VG are "all encompassing" and have *relatively* narrow goals, so the head-count can be compared to what they've achieved or are planning to achieve.

Most of the rest (Boeing, LMCO, the greater NG, Arianne) are huge conglomerates that on the one hand do a lot more than just space (Boeing for example does anything from civilian jetliners to battlefield management systems), and on the other hand almost never do anything without so much subcontracting that their own size almost doesn't matter.

So other than admiring the list - what's the purpose? 

And even suppose this is more about BO and SpaceX (Who are the most comparable duo) - what can we conclude?  BO has fewer employees and does a lot less.  So - does one balance the other?  Or the lack of growth is just another symptom of the lack of achievement?

Shrug.