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General Dynamics Land Systems

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General Dynamics Land Systems Reviews

3.3

45% would recommend to a friend

(596 total reviews)
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Dave Paddock

47% approve of CEO

36% positive business outlook

General Dynamics Land Systems has an employee rating of 3.3 out of 5 stars, based on 596 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The General Dynamics Land Systems employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Aerospace and defence industry (3.6 stars).

Reviews by job title

596 reviews
1.0
28 Jun 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

9/80 Work Schedule Health Insurance The buildings have doors

Cons

I left GDLS in Sterling Heights, Mi willingly three years ago. I worked there 5 years right out of college as a project manager. I left because I absolutely hated it. I couldn't stand to think of going to work in the morning and had to drag myself there in misery step-by-step. It is the most toxic, mind-numbing and in-bred work environment or organization I have ever been a part of. I wouldn't have been this harsh three years ago after having left the company, but my experiences at real, modern and people centered organizations have made me realize just how bad it was. I was reading some of the reviews on here and started to feel like I felt when I worked there and it was immediately depressing as hell. I wish I was exaggerating. You will be made to feel like a small, worthless cog that's sole purpose is to slog through life with your eyes to the ground waiting for orders from the enlightened managers on-high who have all the good ideas and see you for the worthless plebe you are. The executives refer to people as if they are products ("We are selling the USG 10 people, I don't think that price is too high at all."). The managers are too busy seeing who is king of the mountain and protecting their worthless empires to change anything for the better. Those that have been there for a while either check out and do nothing, or carry all the water for the rest of the burnouts. The young and talented are like Unicorns: they make the place better until they either run away or assimilate into just another donkey. Unless you are one of the chosen ones, you will be ignored at meetings, your ideas will be shot down out of hand and managers will ignore you and act like you don't exist. Racism was rampant. Nepotism and sex would get you promotions. They played Fox News in the hallways. You see, all they are doing is playing a game. The game is to talk the USG into giving them as much money as they possibly can for more and more tanks that they don't need and then milk the contracts of every last penny, even if it means forcing your employees to work over their winter vacations doing nothing but padding their time sheets. For those of you that don't think its that bad, think again. Look through the rest of the reviews on this and other sites and you will see a very clear pattern of the same complaints. Oh, and by the way, if you work there and think I'm exaggerating how bad it is, I would have thought the same thing until I experienced what its like to work with people who see me as more than a cog in the machine that pumps money into their crooked pockets. Its very likely that your affection for the company, if you have any, is actually either ignorance or Stockholm syndrome. GET OUT NOW!!! RUN!!!

1.0
21 Mar 2014

Good at politics?

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You get to see how International and Domestic Politics lead to business and if you are ok with $$$ vs. Ethics then this is the place for you. If your immediate supervisor likes you - and you are willing to do whatever it takes to stay in that category you can do well here.

Cons

When you examine a business in this sector it really comes down to the people you work with as the work has been dumbed down so far by ISO 9001:9002 that you can do the work in your sleep really - GDLS Canada only worries about ISO though when they have been tipped off to a pending Gov. audit (tipped off BY the Gov. that is). In my 15 years of working there Ive run across the following - vast numbers of recreational drug users, an established network of swingers and wife swappers, managers sleeping with managers when their wives have cancer, co-workers breaking up each others marriages, managers visiting the "ballet" while on business travel - expensed to the Gov contracts, managers making statements such as "don't worry, there are no microphones in this room to record our conversations", video cameras being installed to secretly record workers and just about every one of your co workers sees themselves as the most intelligent and essential worker there. And to top it off HUGE amounts of Government money wasted due to inept practices (which the Gov. is fine with usually as defence spending is more about job creation) Even with the money rolling in, the knives are out and if you are not there to compete on a daily basis (re: politics) you will be tossed on the "candidates list" for potential cuts of overhead/ people. Oh and I almost forgot managers sleeping with Government officials. Its not a place to create a cutting edge skill set, its behind the times in its approach to business and unless you are in the "high potential" list of people - you will be seen as an asset - which management has no problem exploiting. If you are ok with doing the same thing for 5 - 10+ years holding out for your chance to get an invite to leading a project just keep on holding on - you will get there !!! p.s - the newest contract scored will not lead to hiring and if you think your job is safe you don't understand manufacturing - see you after the retooling out in the job market. Never in my life have I met so many unethical people willing to backstab, bad mouth and undercut their co-workers than when I worked at GDLS - C

1.0
30 Jan 2011

Work Experience Means Nothing

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

They pay well. Offer additional days off. Bonus program is excellent.

Cons

Previous work experience means nothing. It is all about the diploma/degree and who you know. This means the right people for the job rarely get the job. Working there be prepared for a verbal and physcial assaults and do not expect HR to much if anything. There seems to be rules for some and rules for others.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 596 Reviews

Glassdoor has 702 General Dynamics Land Systems reviews submitted anonymously by General Dynamics Land Systems employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if General Dynamics Land Systems is right for you.