Pros
Benefits. Building products that save lives if they are built correctly. All the other "pro's" are dependent on the program/project you work for. Raytheon isn't a company, but a collection of fiefdoms. A lot of the senior technical staff are still here because: A) we have a very nice pension package that is protected by the DoD, B) we have built up time in grade so we get a lot of PTO (8+ weeks) that we can't find elsewhere, and C) we like working with our customers (there are a lot of good, frustrated people in the Govt who understand the importance of our mission).
Cons
Raytheon is just another defense company. The environment is driven by the Government. Raytheon executives and investors make far more money when programs don't deliver than when they do. If you don't believe that then explain how corporate profits are linked to on-time-delivery of programs. The Government doesn't cancel or re-bid programs, they just throw more money at them; as a result, the more incompetent a large, connected defense company is, the more money it makes. This sets the tone for every aspect of the business. Given "task a", Raytheon/LM/BA/NG makes far more money if we bill 200,000 hours to complete the task versus 2,000. There are far too many Power-Point senior employees who have built their career on this paradigm. Middle management appears to have a "I've got mine, screw you" attitude. One infamous manager got a small bag of DOD Challenge coins for his "team" and eBay'd them. Few actually understand or care about the technology efforts they are leading. Most are boomers just waiting to collect their pension. The entire defense industrial base has become a massive slum-lord complex of baby-boomers trying to get all they can before they get kicked out. Reinvestment is a joke. Same on the government side. Some programs managers buffer this better than others, but you can't escape it.
