Pros
Great people. I've been in defense for my entire career (almost 15 years) and Raytheon has the smartest and most diverse employees that I have ever dealt with. Sure, there are the handful of inefficient workers or poor managers, but for the most part, the only reason I stick around is the people. Technology is evolving to stay competitive with other contractors in the industry - but I think it's just part of everyone staying relevant and competitive. Company is more aligned with non-defense markets and balances work between commercial and defense ventures. Benefits are tops. How many other companies still provide pension, education reimbursement, medical, dental, health, 401k, etc...? Additionally, a very flexible schedule and as much as I complain, the work-life balance is probably better than other places.
Cons
RAYTHEON = Reorg All Year Then Hope Everything Operates Normally. Reorg after reorg after reorg. People are always in a constant state of fear. Let's see which layer of middle management we can get rid of to make things more efficient? Oh, by the way, let's also see how much more upper management we can possibly squeeze in. Company is EXTREMELY top-heavy. Annual merit increases are barely keeping up with cost-of-living increases, even if you exceed expectations. If you FAR exceed expectations, you get a pat on the back and more work for another year before being promoted. Promotions are very hard to come by. Morale is VERY low, but I don't know which defense contractor is. Rates are high, resulting in loss of lots of contracts. What usually ends up is that the contractor that ends up awarded with the contract would subcontract Raytheon anyway, but for a considerably smaller scope of the effort. Estimates for new work are so risk averse, it's sadly comical. A task that engineering can estimate to be 40 hours would end up being estimated to be 140 hours, because you know, just in case... No cooperation between different divisions in the company. Raytheon is one large company, but really, it's several very small and very different companies that actively bid for the same project...and is often awarded different portions of a project, resulting in a need for firewalls between organizations IN THE SAME BUILDING! Finally - death by process. There's a process for everything. literally. Leaking faucet in the bathroom and you want to report it? Well, guess what - there's a process for that. Process and management and bureaucracy result in exorbitant rates, which makes us less competitive. GRANTED, all of the above can apply to other defense companies, but if there's one thing Raytheon excels in, it's process. "Agile" may as well be 'facilmova' (which is esperanto for agile - the comedy in this is a bit too much for me).
