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General Atomics

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Bad place for a software developer - Software Developer V General Atomics Employee Review

2.0
12 Nov 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Ok pay. Good benefits. 401(k) *and* pension. Nice people. Regular 9/80 hours, no crazy overtime. Very flexible usage of vacation leave time. Opportunities for senior developers to work on very large areas of code.

Cons

This is focused specifically on working as a software developer, and does not apply to other positions. The company is focused primarily on hardware and therefore does not care, or even know much about software. The leadership is almost entirely clueless about what a large swath of the company actually does. The software processes are ill suited to produce quality code. New and exciting ideas are almost non-existent. Experimenting with new tools and technologies comes along once every 5 years or so. Purchasing tools that make a software developer's job easier is entirely out of the question except in very small quantities. There is a mid sized training bureaucracy that every employee must continually stay up to date on, yet none of the training applies to the job of software developer. Training on what, why and how the software works is non existent, and must be manually repeated to every new hire that comes along, without any recognition for the effort of the person doing the training. Due to the nature of the software being a Windows desktop application, or embedded processing work, the skills don't really transfer if you're ever looking for another job. Most job ads these days want different skills. So the longer you stay working on outdated technologies, the less employable you are elsewhere. Beware the trap.

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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