engineer

avionics technician

intern

aircraft maintenance technician

mechanic

Gulfstream Aerospace

Pros-----

Excellent and Honest Recruiters:
My Gulfstream recruiter was so intent on bringing me into the fold that he asked me over and over to give notice at my previous job. I remember feeling so flattered. I gave notice as requested but then the strangest thing happened…My recruiter called me the day before my scheduled move to inform me that my background check hadn’t cleared. The recruiter then told me that Gulfstream would not move me until my background check cleared. I was unemployed and living on savings for more than a month. Honestly, that recruiter was such a magnanimous and remarkable fellow. I still have such fond memories of him.

Impeccable Ethics:
I spoke with some colleagues who started at Gulfstream around the same time as me. It turned out that recruiters were doing the same thing to other folks that they did to me. There were some legitimate issues with Gulfstream’s background service provider at time (really, there were some problems with the provider). I love how Gulfstream did not bother to inform any of the job candidates. I still marvel at Gulfstream’s unprecedented ethics while acquiring and holding onto to new hires. I actually seek to emulate those same ethics in my daily life.

Cons-----

Okay, I’m going to cut the sarcasm for a brief moment. There actually are some good departments to work in at Gulfstream. I had some colleagues who managed to find fulfillment at Gulfstream. Unfortunately, not everyone can be that lucky. Do your homework and know your worth. If you plan on making a career at Gulfstream in the bad areas, then keep your head down, do as your told, DO NOT try to improve processes, and DO NOT complain to management. Knowing the corporate handbook rules will not help you as those rules apparently only apply to the proletariat. Middle and upper management take complaints very seriously…in that they will seriously intimidate, micromanage, and outright lie until you shut up. Alright, let’s get back into sarcasm mode…

Advice to Management-----

I really wish I could have been micromanaged more. Nothing made me feel as helpless and unworthy as being constantly badgered for status instead of being allowed to work out issues in a constructive manner. I really miss that feeling in my new job. Please give us more of that helpful and necessary micromanagement, please?

I wish that I could have been lied to a little bit more. I did my best work only when I doubting my own sanity and being gaslighted. I was so busy trying to prove my own worth, to myself, that I generated tons of value for the company in process. It was really a win-win for everyone.

We really need a less responsive HR department. They were simply too helpful with all my issues. They were always there to help me, I always felt like they were in my corner…Always
.
We really need to see more nepotism and favoritism please. Being regularly blamed for the actions of my department’s favorite engineer really taught to me to take responsibility for other people’s mistakes. I mean, how else could I grow out of my own laziness and obvious ineptitude? Also, being blamed for causing problems that happened when I wasn’t even at work was absolutely refreshing. It taught me the invaluable lesson of carrying blame home with me after my shift.

3rd time employeed, twice as a contractor and now as a direct hire. Never fired, voluntarily left each time. 

Everyone here sees the issues. Top heavy management. Schedule is more important than a quality product. Administrative, Management and Engineering roles heavily segregated from floor level / skilled labor. Perks for some but not for all etc.

Gulfstream doesn't care about their technicians and other skilled labor employees. Having worked here three times only now as a direct hire am I treaded with some respect and support. However this isn't just a me issue. I knew the situation coming back and I enjoy working on these airframes. I can navigate the nonsense but this place is a revolving door. On that topic, Gulfstream is happy to hire you, and even more willing to fire you. Job security is laughable if you don't have experience to jump to another job in the industry. Google the COVID 19 Gulfstream layoff.

The culture here is great from what I've been told on the none Technican side. However all of us mechanics feel the constant schedule pressure, constantly under micro management, lack of quality control due to scheduling "constraints" or circumventing regulations and quality requirements because upper level management cannot accept scheduling delays and or defects. Your job is literally on the line any given time you are the cause of, or apart of an issue that could deflect the schedule, even if it wasn't negligence. A Boeing event is only inevitable because of this massive disparity between floor technicians and management. Lord only knows how that works between management and leadership. The snowball rolls downhill.

However you can get fortunate and find a great crew, and great leadership here, just like anywhere else. This is definitely a place where you HAVE to make the best of it. It's not required by leadership that your experience here is positive and cultural is very cutthroat  because of that. You are told this is normal and it isn't. Having worked for another Prime and even in the Space Industry, this is not normal. The "Good ole boy system" doesn't take precedent over how quality is handled or how the process is followed, and how you the employee treated at every other Prime and I've only seen that on a large scale at Gulfstream.

Gulfstream has recently been losing a lot of it's skilled employees to higher paying companies. I believe Gulfstream and General Dynamics as a whole deserves this and I hope it continues. Until they make the necessary changes to treat their employees like they care about them and their families and not as disposable numbers on a roster. IF and ONLY IF they could fix that would working FOR Gulfstream be as nice as the Gulfstream Aircraft that is built and serviced here.

I have worked at Gulfstream for over 12 years in Engineering. Experiences and enjoyment are totally dependent on what type of Manager you have. Some are great and others are the absolute worst. If you are young and just beginning your career this is a great place to be. If you can handle the fast-paced and constantly changing work environment then this is your place. If you want to spend quality time with your family and friends stay away from this place. When I was recruited they touted the work schedule of four 10 hour days and 3 day weekends. That never happened and in the first 4 years I could probably count the number of 3 day weekends on one hand. This is an extremely schedule driven company from top to bottom. I believe this is primarily because of the management bonus structure that provides a very generous % that increases the higher up the management chain you go. The attitudes of management can become quite toxic if there is any 'threat" to their bonuses. The general workforce gets a set dollar value bonus every year that is very miniscule when compared to the management bonus plan.
There is a ceiling when it comes to technical promotions. There appears no limit on the management side. 
Micro-management is the standard operating procedure for Gulfstream. You can spend more time preparing status tracking reports that actually doing anything more technically innovative.
The other drawback to management is that they tend to not make decisions very quickly. It can take months to get a technical proposal through to the approval stage. Add additional time if the proposal is something new and innovative.
The company also has a bad habit of treating employees like a body that they can just move around. Not much thought is given to being strategic in manpower placement. It tends to be wherever a body is needed the most, regardless of skill set.
One drawback to working here too long is it becomes the "golden hand cuff" since not very many other employers can match the same salary as Gulfstream. You may be forces to take a pay cut to be able to move on to your next job.
If you are just starting your career or moving up the ladder and under the age of 45, then Gulfstream would be great for you. Just keep in mind that it's probably not going to be your last job.

My typical day at work involved answering emails and phone calls on various Gulfstream model large cabin aircraft with various simple to complex faults or requests that could vary from part verification to vendor CMM or Gulfstream policy or FAA questions. This involved troubleshooting, research, and talking to colleagues and other support departments to resolve aircraft faults then finally providing the correct answer to the customer. My customers were Gulfstream aircraft operators, customer and Gulfstream in house service center technicians, Gulfstream field service representatives, and pilots and other support groups of Gulfstream, such as service and custom engineering, ASC & CB group, part sales, publications, and others. I learned many ways to troubleshoot aircraft system and component faults while in Techops and built many good relationships. While in techops, we operated as a tight knit group relying on each other's expertise within the different aircraft systems to spread the knowledge around. The hardest part of the job was when we received in-flight pilot emergencies where we were required to bring in pilots who were experts on the certain model aircraft and if necessary brought in service engineering to the conversation. The most enjoyable part of the job is when we were able to have time to research recent customer aircraft faults and type out a Journal Article that tells the whole story from what kind of fault it was to how it was fixed. Then the article was edited and posted on our mygulfstream.com website for customers to read and gain the knowledge and experience. The Journal Articles are a way that certain past and recent customer fault experiences with their Gulfstream aircraft could be spread to all our customers. I also very much enjoyed all the people that I worked with in Techops as they are very nice people who would do anything to help.

From the outside, Gulfstream seems like a company that would have everything together. Being a manufacturer of high end business jets you might expect high end tools and facilities. This is not the case. Somehow they manage to thrive on being as cheap as possible. 

Most shops lack the proper space they need be efficient. Wasting time moving things back and forth is a daily occurrence. Cheap tools and roof leaks are also far more common than you'd expect.

My personal experience with the company has been bittersweet. I genuinely appreciate my coworkers and the satisfaction of doing a good job everyday. Since starting, Gulfstream has shown it's true colors. My hopes were that working hard could earn me raises and promotions in a timely manner. 

Year after year reviews come and more excuses and disappointment. Leads, managers and senior techs alike have praised my work, yet corporate policies lacking common sense are holding me back. They seem to allow more budget to attract new hires than to reward their current employees. After years of work I am now breaking even with what new hires start at, and I am not alone. This is practiced across many departments. 

Many people here feel disrespected by the corporate regard for it's employees. On top of that they seem to expect their workers to perform miracles. They schedule more and more aircraft every year, yet we have to pull teeth to get new or better tools. 

Gulfstream does not allow any buffer time in its schedule for its inevitable rework. But instead adds more aircraft than they are capable of handling. They compensate for this by scheduling overtime measured in the lengths of months to years. I, among many others, have worked hundreds of hours of overtime each year. I wish Gulfstream would treat their people with more dignity. 

If you’re considering working at Gulfstream, be prepared to enter a world where mediocrity is rewarded, talent is ignored, and the only real skill that moves you up the ladder is knowing how to brown-nose the right manager.

Let’s get one thing straight: management is an absolute trainwreck. Decisions are made with zero logic, poor communication is the norm, and any attempt to suggest improvement is met with silence or retaliation. Leadership often feels more like a popularity contest than a team of professionals leading a global company.

Competence is rare, but somehow incompetence thrives. The people who actually know what they’re doing are either buried under layers of bureaucracy or run into burnout after years of being ignored or overworked.

Pay? Forget it. Gulfstream pays like they’re a struggling startup instead of the billion-dollar company with zero real local competition. Because they’ve monopolized the area, they offer wages that are insulting for the skill and work they demand. They know you have nowhere else to go unless you move out of town — and they exploit that fact daily.

Want to move up? Hope you’re ready to neglect your family, play the politics game hard, or sell your soul. Promotions aren’t based on merit or performance, they’re based on favoritism and visibility. If you’re not in the right click or pretending to be someone you’re not, you’ll stay stuck forever.

Gulfstream has become a corporate parasite to the Savannah area. Instead of improving the local economy, they’ve crushed competition, driven down wages, and turned the labor force into disposable parts for their ever-turning machine.

I’ve seen talented, dedicated employees give everything they have — and get nothing back. If you value your family, your mental health, or your self-respect, look elsewhere. This place will chew you up, waste your potential, and then act like you’re lucky to be there at all.

During my time at GAC as a contractor I was treated extremely poorly. I am 100% T/P disabled US Army retiree with over 20 years aviation experience. I was hired for night shift, and after 11, months still awaiting direct hire. In comes a new contractor who is a young female also hired for nights to replace a former employee. The managers said she is probably staying on days, she’s attractive and we want her on days. I couldn’t believe what I just heard. Well not only did she stay on days, we all moved to day shift and she got direct hire in 4 months. I asked management why she’s ahead of me now, and was told they didn’t know I wanted direct. We had already talked about direct before and instead of saying oh, well you will get it, she was given direct anyway. She quit 2 weeks later. After all that, doing the nasty calls nobody else wanted and dealing with chronic pain everyday, I also quit. They immediately called me back and offered different positions and I agreed. Then it was okay for a bit. After 4 months I was passed over for direct again, and was having to stand all day due to the broken stool I had to use. I asked for a workstation which was supposed to come with a chair (every other station had chairs) but had to continue using my broken stool. I then submitted a request for reasonable accommodation and after contacting my contract house HR, and waiting two months with no response, I reached out to legal. Then everyone was jumping hurdles to get me some action. All this time my management did nothing. I submitted all my disability information but still had to provide a doctors note to prove I had medical problems. All this for a chair that EVERYONE else had. I finally got all in place, and the company laid 700 workers ( contractors) off. That is just the worst, but not all the problems. I could write a book about what not to do as a manager or Company based on my experience with Gulfstream. Not the worst but definitely not the best.

Pros:
+ Pay is pretty good. Off shift hours are compensated with differentials (+10% for 2nd shift, +15% for graveyard)
+ Yearly bonuses split into two paychecks in February and July
+ Healthcare is second only to military/Tricare
+ Fun stuff like Family Day every October (luster wears off after the first year or two) and Christmas luncheon
+ Most departments break for the July shutdown (one week) and Christmas shutdown (two weeks)
+ Six paid holidays per year (New Year's, Memorial Day, 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas)
+ 6% company  match 401K
+ Can end up in a department where you do really cool stuff with airplanes and composites
+ Company discounts at several food establishments, car rentals, Verizon, and some vehicle purchases. 

Cons:
- Hours are horrid. 0500 is a normal report to work time. 10.5 hour days are regular, 12 hour days during critical care. Do not come here expecting to work your 40 and get out. 
- Work/life balance is atrocious if you land in a warehousing or materials role. Forced to adjust schedule with little notice or care to your home situation
- Headcount is constantly under where it needs to be in order to complete tasks on the floor, in warehousing, and in purchasing. Afflicted throughout the entire Savannah campus.
- Layoffs can show up out of nowhere (2015 and 2016) and affect hundreds.
- Management is very hit or miss. Worked for great bosses, worked for terrible ones. 
- Lots of benefits listed above do not apply to contractors
- WORST: Buddy system is in full effect. You are not promoted on your skill or adaptability. Strictly who you know is not only how you move up, but how quickly you move up.

Largely dependent on where you land within the company. Core engineering seems to have it much better than completions or customer support. They have more flexibility in their time off and working from home capabilities. 
Benefits are pretty good. 6% match on 401(k) and a few health insurance options. They lag behind competitors and others in aviation in modern benefits like parental leave. There is no paid time off for new parents, mothers or fathers. 
Job advancement is tricky. Most people don't really care about the title, but want the promotion for the salary increase. Just because you qualify for a promotion does not mean you will get one, no matter how much you have worked for it. This can be incredibly demoralizing. 
After 12 months in a role, you can apply for internal positions throughout the company, but if you don't know someone in another department or have exactly what they're looking for in experience, this will feel almost exactly like the process of trying to join the company. It's almost like being an external candidate except you can usually do some digging and find out who the hiring manager is. 
All in all, the work is interesting and there's a lot to like. There's also a lot that can be improved. It probably won't be the best company you work for, but won't be the worst. Hopefully, this year provides some clarity on what the future holds as we come out of the pandemic.

Teamwork - We know from our past accomplishments that working together to build on each other’s success leads to groundbreaking achievements in aviation.
Learning - We recognize that every Gulfstream employee is a potential leader and innovator. That’s why everyone, including our senior leaders, is committed to the growth of every employee. Gulfstream encourages employees to reach their highest potential through professional development programs and our internal training organization, Gulfstream University.
Recognition - We believe in recognizing and rewarding dedicated employees and top performers. We have several recognition and bonus programs that encourage continuous improvement. As a result, we’ve won some of the most prestigious awards in business aviation. We are proud to have earned our industry’s highest honor―the Robert J. Collier Trophy―not just once, but twice.
Caring - At Gulfstream, we are passionate about investing in our communities. Whether through our volunteer program, investment grants or education outreach, our employees generously give of their time and talent. Our “Live Well. Be Well.” speaker series, which recently included Tony Robbins, Suze Orman and Dr. Oz, was open not only to employees and their families but our community as well.
Wellness - We care deeply about our employees’ health and the health of their families. While we thrive on our work, life is more than work. We encourage employees to have a healthy balance between the two. Our benefits and our wellness programs promote that goal.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Engineer 8 salaries reported	$96,955 per year
Avionics technician 13 salaries reported	$44.39 per hour
Intern 6 salaries reported	$20.00 per hour
Aircraft maintenance technician 24 salaries reported	$42.40 per hour
Mechanic 6 salaries reported	$29.95 per hour

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