General Dynamics Land Systems Reviews

Former Employee – worked at General Dynamics Land Systems full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – The best health care benefits I have ever had or probably will ever have again. Good overall wage compenstation package.

Cons – Very disorganized company structure. Forget everything you have ever learned about trying to reduce waste. The company makes money on wasteful processes and procedures from the government. When there is a bad cash flow month, the company orders more parts that are not needed because they get paid to store the parts which increases cash flow for the month.

From the section manager level on up the chain, they rule through intimidation and stiffle ones creativity. After several years of banging your head against the wall of change, everyone that continues to work there conforms to the way the company operates or you leave.

Do not tell them the truth, they like to feel warm and fuzzy so you are better off telling them what they want to hear. If you dare tell the truth, there will be recompressions.

Advice to Senior Management – Why give advice to people that know everything already? I spent 11 years of my life trying to make a difference and did make some but it was a very taxing process that wore me down.

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

Current Employee – been working at General Dynamics Land Systems full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Very well paid relevant to required skill level and accountability. Oppurtunity for travel and 6 figure earnings. Meaningful work supporting soldiers.

Cons – Heavy sacrifice for those with families. Waste of tax dollars. Poor mangement and accountability for coworkers. Growth depends on continued conflict. Major contractions seem inevitable.

Advice to Senior Management – Learn to manage talent. Fire incompetents and promote and hire better supervisors and managers.

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

Former Employee – worked at General Dynamics Land Systems full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Close to Home, Every Other Friday Off, Stress Free.

Cons – Co-workers and people that have been with company for more than 5 years live in LALA Land. No reality. The Accounting and Finance jobs aren't Analytical. Oracle is an abortion of a system, in addition to all the other systems in place. If you stay there to long you will make yourself unmarketable and will lose all sense of worth. The jobs require no thinking and all you do is push papers.

Advice to Senior Management – Hope for another wa, since thats the only way your going to keep your doors open. The site could be a great place for another Gibraltar Trade Center or Laser Tag.

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

Current Employee – been working at General Dynamics Land Systems full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Good people trying to do a good job despite senior managment.
Supporting the soldiers in the field.

Cons – Micro-management
Communications
Senior Management
Workers are not listened to. Only senior management has the answer - at least they think so.

Advice to Senior Management – Let the workers on the floor do their jobs without your "help".
Be concerned with the quality of the product and not your quarterly incentive bonus.

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

Former Employee – worked at General Dynamics Land Systems full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – Corporate benefits package is strong; salaries are competitive; 9/80 work schedule provides flexibility

Cons – Ostensible commitment to ethics and work-life balance, but beneath the surface there is no genuine regard for people as anything other than expendable. Communications are less than candid. Reductions in force are heartless executions.

Advice to Senior Management – Tell people the truth, especially if you plan to lay them off eventually.

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

Current Employee – been working at General Dynamics Land Systems full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – It is simply just a job to go to, however, alternating Friday's off make it bearable. Holidays off are good, usually around 2 weeks at Christmas.

Cons – Bloated in VP's and Directors whose main concern is hitting their incentive compensation.
Decision makers are complacent and unimaginative. Most waiting out time until they can retire.
New generation of managers are carrying on with the same mindset as the old.
Fixed price work will ultimately lead to the demise of this business unit due to lack of investment and future planning
 It is now a classic case study in how not to run a business.

Advice to Senior Management – Look to the real world for help. It is apparent the good old boys network is failing, and hiring retired military officers as executives only perpetuates the unimaginative mindset that permeates upper management.
Reinstate the pension plan. You have no real leverage to keep employees

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

Former Employee – worked at General Dynamics Land Systems full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Very few now, focus is good new for the Wall St analysts. There in little independent investment in product development.

Cons – Focus is "share holder value". Read the annual report to find who the share holders are. There is a quarterly focus on earnings and cash that pushes the envelope of ethical behavior.

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

Former Employee – worked at General Dynamics Land Systems full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Nice holiday party. Competivie benefits package.

Cons – Not a progressive company. A white male dominant environment with no career advancement for minority woemen. Promotions based on longevity and not experience, talent, & education.

Flex schedule not really flexible. 9/80 schedule is a very long day with no work from home option. No performance based bonus sturcture. Directors and Mangers give bonuses to their favorites.

Advice to Senior Management – Recruit some outside talent. Hire senior leadership with a diverse background. Promoting among the ranks is business as usual.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at General Dynamics Land Systems

Pros – Good people (although many are leaving now)
Good pay, benefits, 9/80 schedule

Cons – Old-school managerial style
Old technology (Lotus Notes)
General lethargic pace of work

Advice to Senior Management – Mark - I know you are a first class President, and the company is lucky to have you. However, at every level below you, it seems as if the company is structured to go everything in the least logical and least efficient way possible. You have some first class talent that is bored out of their minds, and worried that they will not be marketable if they don't leave soon.

You know how passionately and effectively we improved our time card compliance systems? We went to school in order to exert the same passion for engineering.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at General Dynamics Land Systems

Pros – 9/80 schedule
Health care benefits including number of sick days allowed is good
It's fulfilling to know you're working to help the soldier on and off the battlefield
Working with military vehicles does have some coolness to it
It's fun to watch tanks drive around the facility

Cons – There used to be many opportunities for advancement and professional development at GDLS but not anymore. Over the past few years everything has been tightened to the point of being nearly impossible to get any training or advancement. Your individual performance is not rated. Instead you are put into a ranking order under a typical bell curve. Recently those in the lower 15% of the bell curve were laid off and upper management requested that the next round of performance reviews must match the bell curve of last years. This means that since the bottom 15% are now gone there must be an equivalent number of people shifted down into the "not achieving" category through no fault of their own.
Moral is completely in the dumps with few people feeling satisfied at work. There have been two rounds of layoffs and it seems like more are likely. Most of the high achievers have left the company. If you are looking for some experience then you can get some professional experience at GDLS but then you'll need to get out. If you already are a professional with experience then I'd avoid this place.

Advice to Senior Management – Quit ignoring your employees and treating them so poorly. Change the performance rating system to actually rate an employees performance instead of a general ranking where only the few "preferred" employees can get above a 4 rating. Diversify!! Army and Marine contracts are drying up. Try to to put our quality products instead of just getting something out on time and expecting the government to pay you to fix the issues that were ignored in the first place.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend