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General Atomics

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Slow and Steady - Mechanical Engineer General Atomics Employee Review

4.0
18 Mar 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great work/life balance with rarely any overtime, hybrid work available. 9/80 work schedule is nice. Multiple cafeterias in the Poway buildings where you can get a good lunch for $7-$8. Interesting work in the Payloads group where we built various systems for various vehicle platforms, often on IRAD with quick timelines. Not sure how things are on the aircraft side of ASI, probably much slower. Full ownership over parts/assemblies from concept design to analysis to testing & integration. Never micro managed, my supervisor would let me lead the mechanical efforts on programs independently as an E2 and I would send status updates every other week. Basically tons of freedom and hands-off management. This allowed me to learn a lot in a short period of time and have rapid growth in responsibility. Bottom line: If you want a comfortable job in San Diego then GA is a great place to work.

Cons

GA is an old company that is stuck in its old ways, which really limits the amount of innovation that can be done. The pay is 'ok' compared to other DoD contractors but low in comparison to start-up defense companies that will pay +50% in addition to equity. Most of the company is made up of older individuals who want to cruise through the last 10-15 years of their career. As a young engineer, I often outpaced my older co-workers and got the top ratings during yearly performance reviews, although I was not compensated for it properly due to HR policy on promotion timelines. This was pretty discouraging. There are always new processes being implemented which slows down R&D projects/timelines which can be frustrating. The office spaces are your typical cubicle farms, a bit depressing. Bottom line: If you are a young engineer who wants to put in the effort for rapid career and salary growth, look elsewhere.

Explore other reviews about General Atomics

5.0
8 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Very good work life balance

Cons

9 hour shifts 4 days a week

3.0
11 Jun 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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