Terrible company for opportunity, career growth, women - Systems Engineer General Atomics Employee Review

1.0
Feb 15, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great people on my team. Annual bonuses.

Cons

Management does not listen to their employees, and systems engineering is treated like a complete joke. The president of the aerospace division at GA has zero interest in changing or growing as a company, and the management structure shows this. Its a "garage shop" mentality where management is rewarded for doing nothing, and the employees are ignored, despite their contributions. The only product the company has going for them is long past its shelf life and there are zero new innovations happening. The only way to get anywhere within this company is based upon how much knowledge you have on the MQ-9 platform, not based on the work you do, and the ideas you come up with. Women are treated as second rate citizens and there are virtually none in management positions, and certainly zero at the VP level, especially in the engineering side. I could go on and on about how terrible management was to multiple people who were extremely bright and intelligent employees.

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5.0
Jun 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Very good work life balance

Cons

9 hour shifts 4 days a week

3.0
Jun 11, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Mostly good people and skilled engineers that are easy to work with and great to learn from across all groups/locations. There is opportunity to pursue technical areas of interest and to stand out by leading improvement efforts. The company is flexible and often facilitates changes according to interest. Sense of job security generally feels good and stable, the greater GA really backs the Space division. The greater company works on some really interesting and cool things, beyond just defense. Pay is pretty good. Experience with most middle management (of engineers) has been positive, they typically advocate and support their employees.

Cons

Unsure of division leadership and strategic direction. Overall impression is that engineers' perspectives are not adequately weighted in both proposals and certain decisions for active missions. Processes burden performance, though there is intention for constant improvement. Ignoring engineering concerns (i.e. with schedule) + process burdens often result in delays and increased pressure, and therefore a less than ideal working environment at times. Overtime pay is not guaranteed but can be approved. Working with teams in different locations can lead to tension and "silo-ing" (though not always). Space division is becoming mostly defense focused (an industry trend), but would be nice to continue work in the civil earth and space science arena. They also demo'd a nice cafeteria/gathering space for more work/equipment space.

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