Bath Iron Works Reviews

Pros

Paid vacation time, 401k, great health benefits, one of the safest shipyards in the country, with no fatalities, one of the most advanced shipbuilding facilities in the world, there is a reason why they say, "Bath Built is Best Built!"

Cons

In manufacturing it can be dirty, and sweaty, and sometimes you have to wait for other trades to get out of your way.

Advice to Senior Management

When other shipyards creatively modify their contract acquisition strategy, then Bath Iron Works needs to become just as creative to obtain naval/commercial contracts.

Pros

Flex time
Ok benefits
Employees are good people

Cons

Little chance for promotion
Company pays employees roughly 30% under industry average
Management is completely incompetent
    - many are the same people who ran Maine Yankee Electric into the ground
Recent layoffs mean reduced pay and triple the work

Advice to Senior Management

You can not layoff 1/3 of your engineering workforce and then complain that deadlines are not being met. Management scratches their heads that younger employees are leaving the company in record numbers, piece of advice, pay people what they are worth and treat them with respect....maybe some will stay.

Pros

Excellent pay, work, benefits and an excellent work environment. I am glad they have a lot of older stubborn workers, they are an excellent source of knowledge about shipbuilding. If you are respectful of that they will share it w/ you. I have worked my share of low paying non-union jobs w/ lousy benefits. Every union job I have had provided health care, benefits and a descent wage. The BMDA is the best union I have seen in this state. Our last contract brought in 4% pay increase per 14 mnth period for the next 4 1/2 years. With the wretched state of the US economy I consider that contract pure genius.

Cons

Sometimes I think that "a few" people here forget that our mission is to build the best surface ships in the world so are Navy has the best available for protecting freedom around the world.
Go BIW

Advice to Senior Management

Lets build more ships. I am glad that Jeff Geiger was chosen as the new president. And hope that we do diversify into clean renewable energy.

Pros

Great place to live if you love the outdoors. Very interesting work, get to see the entire shipbuilding process from design to final product. Lots of opportunities to move around within the company and see a wide variety of parts to the business. Very friendly place to work, everyone is very open and willing to help out. Mainers are a great group to work with, a very unique (in a good way) culture. Don't let my negative comments below sway you away, there are a lot of great things about BIW that make it a great place to work, if you can accept a few minor problems.

Cons

For and engineer, #1 worst thing about working there is the unions, particularly the draftsman's union. Union contracts dictate that only union members (who are not engineers) can work with CAD. This makes it very very difficult to work there as an engineer. Think of writing notes on paper and handing it to a modeler so he can put it in CAD... The manufacturing union also has a stranglehold on the company, with very strict roles for each trade within the shipyard, often limiting what salaried employees can get done and slowing down progress in general.

Very isolated in Maine, one of very few engineering job opportunities in Maine. Not much chance of advancement in General Dynamics beyond Bath Iron Works. Intern program is a little slim at the moment but is definitely working towards being a full fledged program. If working with manufacturing, often very difficult to get people on board for change. The manufacturing workforce there is aging and sometimes very resistant to change.

Advice to Senior Management

Do something about the unions! Especially the draftsman's union. To me and others I have talked to, that alone is a reason not to work at BIW as an engineer.

Pros

Flextime, variable schedule, health, vision, dental benefits. There is a shift differential pay for working second or third shift. It is easy to be proud of working here, the sheer magnitude of the projectLocation is desirable if you are trying to get out of the mainstream. There is zero traffic here. Bath is a charming and small city, probably too small for some, though.

Cons

Location does seem to adversely affect salary, there are not a lot of alternative employment opportunites. Professional progression is not clear, and it is hard to “break the mold” for excellent performance. Parking is generally much more difficult than it should be.

Advice to Senior Management

There should be better rewards for good performance.