system engineer

software engineer

production assembler

machinist

systems administrator

General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems

GD overall as a whole is a good place to work, it is the OTS division in production that is ran terribly, the employees aren't valued and upper management only care about is making numbers and will work you to death. The job is physically demanding and overtime is mandated and even on your days off you are considered "on call" making it nearly impossible to plan your personal life on your days off making work life balance non existent. It is as if once you're hired the company basically owns you. If you have a family at home this job isn't it, but if you are a young 20 something year old with no kids or a divorced person with no kids or grown children, then this could be the job for you. When interviewing for the position they make it sound as if it won't be this bad because they need ppl and the turnover rate is extremely high. As for fellow coworkers, it's a very hard middle some are ok and others will try to throw you under the bus in a heartbeat. They hire anyone who can pass a drug test, a clean record, and a pulse. Overall the best thing about this place is the pay, if you want to make plenty of money the opportunity is there but with the cost of no personal life at all

What is the best part of working at the company?
Knowing I played a part in making sure we shipped quality products. Working with a few  other people who were encouraging and also exceptional at their jobs who shared their knowledge. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Main stresses were knowing quality was only important to some people and not the whole team, the revolving door of GMs, some who were terrible people who created terrible work environments, the consistent dishonesty of HR, and the moment PM stopped in the shop.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Favoritism is rampant. Attitudes changed to if they don't care about me, why should I care about their products. Definite divide between the people behind the glass and those who do the real work. Moral was very low when I left.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I didn't hardly sit my entire shift. I stayed busy with a variety of tasks and interacted with my coworkers a lot.  Never a dull moment. Most of my immediate area and shift had the same common goal which was to do a good job.

There is no preventative maintenance on equipment and the motto is run until it breaks. Safety is constantly preached but not implemented in the work area when regarding health. Instead of ventilation blowing fumes out of the building the poorly filtered system blows visible particles overhead of employees. They are “working” on a new system. Maintenance will request and order new air filters but supply will not order. The roof has leaked for 20 years and possibly more when it rains, it floods the walkway and break room. Ply boards are laid on the ground to walk over flooded areas. Welders, work space, and products are getting wet from ceiling leaks. A new roof was in the budget for 2019 and we are now at the end of the year and still nothing. However, the plant has acquired new golf carts for management though. Nothing is important until corporate makes a visit because of an accident. Management is on a buddy system and currently seeking a new “culture” to improve work atmosphere. Seniority is preached and followed only when it benefits the right people. Pay and benefits are good to support a family but not enough to buy off your self-worth and well being.

If the management actually knew how to do the job that is asked of the employees, the management constantly fights against it's employees if they have an Idea that could make things better even though the workers KNOW what works better for the jobs they are doing.

The management also never keeps anything in stock that is necessary to perform the assigned task, whether that be materials for clean-up, parts to replace for something that might break, or just something as simple and cheap as batteries for some of the measuring tools that are VERY required to do the job correctly. 

Also, if you are within your probationary period, you better hope that you do not get sick because the management may not put your time in as being "out - sick" for your time which will cause HR to terminate you no questions asked, even if you call in the days that you are out sick.

If you can show up work and do your job, it's a decent place to work. The work there wasn't difficult at all, especially for the pay, but it can be boring and monotonous a lot of the time. They work a 4/10 schedule so even if you work OT, you typically still get Sat and Sun off. The management and some of the supervisor's made it a constant ish show because there are quite a few who are incompetent and some that are just down right snakes unless you're willing to kiss their feet. Overall, it's a decent place to work, especially once you gain some seniority and can bid on the job you want. Everything goes by seniority there so you get moved around and forced into OT a lot more if you don't have seniority and they don't hire that often. There's usually OT if you want it and there are some pretty cool people who work there. I made a lot of friends there and the only reason I left was because I got another job. 

I have never seen the likes of the GM and senior staff.  They are inexperienced and lacking the knowledge to produce effectively.  They take credit for accomplishments and improvements made by the employees to corporate. The Quality Manager is not able to identify inefficiencies, theoretically throwing out every 3rd piece.  The Engineering Manager trips over real issues to allow his personal feelings get the best of him.  We lost a great Engineer because of this and the Managers immaturity.  The Finance department has a great Manager but is completely overstaffed.  Doesn't mean anything to have bean counters without beans.  The incompetence is so excessive that the Operations Manager ran once they saw what the GM was made of. Their latest stunt of allowing personal feelings guide their actions may be the final nail in the coffin for us.  Without the expertise of R&D/UT/Production Leader and the Forge/TMP Manager that were recently let go, we might as well kiss this place goodbye.

Can't really complain working as a machinist in GD-OTS, it's a lenient work environment but it's lenient in most aspects of the job. There's no real room for promotions other than title changes which comes with a wage increase. The tooling department is seperate from the production side and they've been phasing out the tooling side of the company and looking to outsource it; if you're looking to move up to more technical and difficult Machining, this isn't the place. The environment is very friendly, the machinists don't want you to fail and are willing to help which you in turn help any of the new guys.

One major con, if you're an experienced machinist, prepare to be treated like a trade school student. Too many machinists prior have spoken highly of themselves and failed miserably so now management just assumes we're all novices until we show we can run parts without crashing. If you get past the disrespect, it's an easy paycheck.

If you're a new machinist, highly recommend applying. Machine shop environment is the best I've seen. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
It really is a team environment, but also plenty of individual tasks. No one is ever going to be happy with everything, but after 12 years, I'm still enjoying every day

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
It is a busy environment. Everyone has many different tasks, and you MUST be self motivated 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
You have a job / tasks to accomplish. Work hard, ask questions and you will be rewarded.
Safety is key here..... we all like going home with all the same parts as we came into work with.... and at GD you do 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Support the internal and external Customers.... get them what they need early so they can get going. 
Get organized, get interrupted, get organized...... stay focused and prioritize

I was hired during a huge hiring boom at the same time that upper management made some horrible corporate acquisition decisions that they fully knew would result in huge losses.  Sure enough, a year later, mass firings, layoffs of the admin team from the lowest level up to the highest at the corporate level, quarterly losses.  Just a horrible nightmare.  The pay scale was good, but short lived.  It was deliberate enticement for a short termed work period.  It wasn't all bad, but I think the worst part about GD was the complete lack of specific training for any task.  This was a well known fact among the staff that was often talked about in private conversations.  Very unforgiving environment.

Every day I went to work with an expectation of what will I learn today and opportunities always presented themselves. This company believes in training and education so that is an ongoing requirement for everyone. The company also provides membership to a local, nearby gym if you meet the minimum requirements. Co-workers are helpful and team-oriented. The hardest part of my job was scheduling multiple calendars to meet a deadline for a proposal or something of that nature. The most enjoyable part of my job was planning offsite meetings and events, occasional travel, making new friends and free catered lunches on a regular basis. If you want health insurance, 401K savings and life insurance this company will take care of you.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
System engineer 115 salaries reported	$126,624 per year
Software engineer 83 salaries reported	$140,335 per year
Production assembler 29 salaries reported	$48,616 per year
Machinist 34 salaries reported	$27.74 per hour
Systems administrator 55 salaries reported	$125,432 per year

Working at General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems: Company Overview and Reviews

General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems

General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems Ratings

Popular jobs at General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected