Pros
EB definitely has some good things that people at other jobs would kill for: -Job Stability: Long-term contracts and heavy attrition means the company would be more than happy to keep you around for 40+ years, if that is what you desire. -Interesting Technology: As much as there are "paper pusher" type jobs at EB, there is definitely interesting work, you just need to make an effort (and get a little lucky) to find it. The ability to move around is one of the best things about EB, although it does seem to be getting increasingly difficult to transfer. Hopefully this trend does not continue. -EB Athletic Club: A great-run organization which feels a lot like college intramurals. Great way to meet coworkers & socialize outside of work, especially considering the large influx of young engineers being hired. -Nice Facility: New London is a state-of-the-art facility with a great view over the Thames. -Work / Life Balance: I find the work / life balance to be fair. I do think this is dependent on what department you are in, though, as I have heard my share of horror stories.
Cons
That said, there are some huge problems that largely drive the mass exodus of mid-level engineers from the company. Rather than provide an enormous list of issues, I tried to summarize the "causes" which I feel most other problems stem from: -No Incentive to be Efficient: EB profits off labor hours billed to the government. The government has showed that, for critical defense programs (see: F-35), they will spend whatever it takes to get the job done. Therefore, there is no incentive to be efficient or for anyone to try and change things. Poor performers are kept around / promoted, overly bureaucratic processes are maintained, good performers are not invested in & end up leaving, etc. -Recognizing / Addressing Problems: Management is unwilling to admit problems exist to avoid "looking bad" to upper management / the customer. This is largely due to the fact that management is only assessed for cost & schedule performance, not employee happiness. Because of this, EB outright refuses to spend money on anything that doesn't directly benefit the bottom line. The obvious parking problem goes unacknowledged, employees are constantly trying to guess the next benefit cut (see: paid OT, health care deductible, tuition reimbursement), etc. The removal of paid OT especially grinds my gears because EB still bills the government for those labor hours they are not paying you for. -Technical Ability is Undervalued: Management heavily overvalues program management and undervalues innovation / other technical skills. This means the people being promoted to supervisory roles know very little about the technology they are managing, leading to a disconnect with (and high turnover for) technical-minded engineers. -Toxic Culture: Above problems lead to a working level culture that is extremely pessimistic. Many employees openly talk about how much they hate the company, how they are actively searching for jobs elsewhere, and the general feeling of hopelessness that things will improve.