BAE Systems reviews

Working within security restrictions and export control can be very frustrating. Many of the projects began decades ago and the technology and processes can be outdated. Working environments, IT, can be very outdated. There is a process for everything. Things do not move quickly.

This business is comprised from 5 acquired companies, which were fairly successful in their own right, but were all doing different things in different markets - so when combined they became a complex business, with terrible internal processes. The core Detica leadership team was inexperienced in running a global business and an autocratic boys club of mostly men that were quite happy to publicly denigrate staff who dared ask difficult questions about the strategy not working. The last 3 years have seen poorly executed change, high staff turnover and lots of failed strategies and product launches. New board members have come in, made dramatic changes (eg we rebrand the entire company), and then left suddenly ("residency visa issues") or effectively demoted by having someone else inserted above them and removed from the board. Although things have improved slightly, the core issue going forward is that the entire business is worn down by continual change, management doublespeak, <1% payrises, robbing the entire staff bonus pot (in 2013) so they could still pay a dividend, widespread redundancies and multiple failed product launches - which have created a feedback loop that confirms the leadership don't know what they're doing. If you're thinking of joining this company, my sincerest advice is don't. I can't think of a single person I rated 2 years ago that is still there.