General Dynamics C4 Systems Reviews

I have been working at General Dynamics C4 Systems full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – This has been an overall good place to work. Until fairly recently it has been a secure job (no pun intended) and it's been a challenging one, the people I work with have been great, and the compensation and benefits are favorable when compared with industry.

Cons – Being under the GD corporate umbrella has put a lot of pressure on the company to perform. Unfortunately, the corporation reports to stockholders and only asks what have you done for me lately. This is of course short-sighted, so while we have helped buoy the corporation during lean times in other groups, now we are drastically limiting IRADs, laying off good employees and thereby planning to fail. This is a tough environment with sequestration, but the way layoffs are being handled is dehumanizing. Management set themselves apart by stopping company-wide participation in the company's success while continuing to reward themselves with bonuses.

Advice to Senior Management – Management and higher grade personnel are not the only people that contribute to the company's success, so why is everyone else locked out of bonuses? Already having greater salaries, this is just evidence of management greed and has not gone unnoticed.

Regarding layoffs, I once worked at a company who told employees in the lower rank order where they stood with a couple of months notice before a layoff. To my knowledge there was no retaliation, only appreciation for being treated like a person with value. If you continue to treat people like commodities, you not only continue to lower yourself, you see the attrition of highly productive employees who may not be at risk. We have seen good employees leave on their own already and it will only get worse. Management rightfully trumpets ethics but doesn't seem to have good ethical/moral compass.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at General Dynamics C4 Systems full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – The people I have worked with are dedicated, passionate and strive to do their best. They are by far the best reason to work here.

Cons – Most effort in any company should be focused on obtaining, maintaining or satisfying customers. Not at GD. Most effort is spent inside political battles and meandering through the complex organization structure. Most decisions are made at the VP and above levels, leaving Sr. Managers and even Directors with little to no authority. The favorite phrase when trying to settle a contentious subject or come to a decision: "Let's take it offline." Which in layman's terms means, "Let's not discuss it ever again."

Advice to Senior Management – Flatten the organization. Empower Sr. Managers with authority. Dissolve the dozens and dozens of businesses and P&Ls and get the whole team rowing in the same direction.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at General Dynamics C4 Systems full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Good compensation and benefits package.

Cons – Not a people company. A lot of job insecurity in the current government spending climate.

– I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at General Dynamics C4 Systems full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – Flexible work environment
great colleagues and understanding management

Cons – Poor communication from the upper management down
Lack of ingenuity and

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at General Dynamics C4 Systems full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – Lots of options in terms of projects. Good team of people

Cons – Rigid structure. Loss of benefits

Advice to Senior Management – Make your employees feel wanted and needed.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at General Dynamics C4 Systems full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Very interesting technical work and its great to support our troops. Well paid and reasonable benefits. Fun people. Company is committed to moving away from Govt funded projects and is doing more internally funded work.

Cons – Due to US budget problems, long term viability of Govt business is unclear.

Advice to Senior Management – Move faster to acquire commercial business senior executives & biz dev people.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at General Dynamics C4 Systems full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Fighting hard in a declining market to avoid layoffs.

Cons – No recognition of merit by a salary increase in 2013. Constant benefits cuts.

Advice to Senior Management – Layoff under performers and give merit raises to those who earned a merit increase.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at General Dynamics C4 Systems full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – The people focus on the right objective. The social aspect of the culture is no more then what fits with each member of the "family".

Cons – There were no cons that do not manifest in any company of similar size and complexity.

Advice to Senior Management – Continue to value the most valuable commodity - the talent.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at General Dynamics C4 Systems full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – There a number of large challenging programs to work on. There are a large number of dedicated and very bright engineers working there who accomplish some pretty amazing things and are a joy to work with.

Cons – The programs are very aggressively bid and the expectation is that the employees will work lots of overtime to try and bring in programs with minimal overrun. There is little or no consideration of work/life balance or long-term retention of employees.

Advice to Senior Management – Consider valuing and rewarding the employees actually doing the work as much as you do the higher level managers who get the credit and rewards for the accomplished work.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I worked at General Dynamics C4 Systems full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Consistent work with decent people.

Cons – Company overextended itself and is mired in working with old, slow technology.

Advice to Senior Management – Emphasize performance and meeting needs instead of requirements. Start utilizing newer technology and an agile methodology.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company