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General Atomics

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Company going through growing pains - Systems and Project Engineer General Atomics Employee Review

4.0
22 Aug 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

ASI is very technically focused, so it's good if you are or aspire to be very technically savvy. Work life balance is good, but each group does things differently based on the managers. Most people work limited overtime, I would say about 40 - 50 hours per week. There is extended work week program, which is voluntary paid overtime for about 2-3 months every year towards holiday time. It has also started with its 9/80 schedule, which is common in government work. 9/80 is working 80 hours in 9 days so you have every other Friday off. ASI also still has pension benefit, which is becoming more rare.

Cons

Areas outside of engineering are in the growing stage, and not very organized. For example, finance, purchasing, etc are not as structured as other companies I have worked for. Management and organization is still catching up with recent size growth. There are a lot of confusion in terms of roles and responsibilities, as well as authority of each manager. Each department does things very differently, which makes intracompany moves more difficult. The company has very informal communication, so if you are new it takes effort to tap into the information circle. Being a private company, management is a black box and decisions are not well explained.

Explore other reviews about General Atomics

5.0
28 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great work life balance and company culture

Cons

Sometimes long delays and slow periods based on government contracting

2.0
25 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

9/80 work schedule. Benefits are decent. One of the few comapnies that offer a pension in addition to 401k.

Cons

Too many management layers. Promotions seem to be based on who you know, and if you fit into the right "clique". Some promotions are being given to managers with no experience in the function. Executuve leadership appears out of touch with their employees. Example - Chaotic games have been played the last 3 years with remote and hybrid work policies.

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