Vantaggi
It takes an act of Congress to get fired. As with most defense contractors, unless you arrive at work packing heat, drunk, or view porn at the office, you cannot be fired. You can, if you choose to, watch TV and movies while charging government contracts.
Svantaggi
Management is taken from the pools of engineers who may be effective at managing themselves are extraordinarily incompetent at managing people. There are almost no managers with a management background. Decisions are reactions to stimuli, not proactive. The essential element in maintaining a career with GD-MS is to keep your head down and make no attempt at improvement, unless it aids one's manager directly. Improvements to the product are driven by individual's bonuses alone. If one doesn't want to make an effort, simply complain and management will retaliate. Retaliation is recognized as a management strategy by leadership at the Director level. As for culture, it is a culture of fear. GD-MS is driven to secure contracts as a prime contractor that it is blinded by its current obligations. What provides management direction are feelings, not facts. Lip service is provided to customers with little if any action to back it up. Their motto is, "This is the way we've always done it." In addition, for the last five years, merit increases have been capped at 2% while employee benefits exceed that amount. With each passing year, employees are making less and less.