Pros
The work can be very interesting because of the contracts that are won. The government has some interesting problems to solve. One can learn a lot about a structured way to survive in the contracting world. Lots of disciplined process. Pretty good at finding employees work when a contract dries up. They have some decent company sponsored, internal training. If you don't work at a customer sight, work life balance can be top notch. Get the work done and everything is fine. However...if you work at a customer site, be prepared to burn a lot of PTO due to the customer closing their facility for federal and customer holidays. GD contracts negotiated to stay competitive at the cost of employee work life balance.
Cons
There is a lot of lip service from management about changing things up and improving them. Don't hold your breath. They been promising the same for many years. They've yet to pull through. Every change is ultimately to increase the margins and earn corporate bigger bonuses, which are based on profits. GD Corp. CEO's compensation is over 19,000,000 up from 14M a couple years back. Career development: There aren't any real, ethical lines for promotion. Sure, you can take on more responsibility for the same pay and level. They like that. Any higher positions you apply for will be lowered to a lateral move, per company policy. They are fine with you doing the work, just don't expect to get paid for it. The programs for the "select few" have resulted in high turnover. The program participants often leave as soon as they don't have to pay anything back. This favoritism, combined with lack of opportunity for the rest who strive for more also results in turnover. A few years ago, they divided all the levels into three and promised to promote people three times as often. It was a lie. It was to keep rates down, improve our pricing position, and increase profits for corporate (multi-million dollar bonuses are tied to profits). Compensation: Enjoy the salary you negotiate when you come on board because it won't be changing. If you want to actually get market corrections later, be prepared to "fight dirty" and get external offers for negotiations. It is a shame that one has to participate in questionable ethics to get the company do the right, ethical thing for its employees. Education: The majority of people that I know who have finished company funded MS degrees have stayed just long enough to not have to pay anything back. Medical plans: We used to have great plans. Now, they are all high deductible. Why? Because GD is focused on elderly care. They want new talent desperately, but don't take steps to attract them retain the young talent they have. New families cost money. GD health plan is self-funded. The more people use it, the more profits are siphoned. An HDHP fixes it.. Their plans cover everything, as long as the employees are paying for it out of pocket.