Complete lack of support and direction - Mechanical Engineer Leidos Employee Review

2.0
Nov 10, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Pay and benefits were good

Cons

Purchasing and inventory departments at the Vista location are a complete joke, it is astounding that they are able to produce anything at all. Project priorities are shifted at the drop of a hat. Project timelines are not communicated to engineers at all, so individuals are left to prioritize their own work based on what seems more urgent, and when everything is urgent, nothing is. I was frequently denied resources needed to do my job, my boss couldn’t be bothered to join my design reviews and I couldn’t get email responses from upper management. Total void of support. Project requirements were laughably vague, one brief was simply “Design must give the user a positive experience”. Expectations were not communicated and designs were not reviewed in enough detail. Upper management openly insulted designs- (“Polishing a turd”, “kludgey”) without providing any support on the front end of the project.

Explore other reviews about Leidos

5.0
Jun 22, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Ability to work from home

Cons

There is few opportunities to promote

3.0
May 27, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Leidos provides opportunities to work on complex government programs with meaningful technical challenges. Depending on the contract and team, there can be exposure to cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, systems engineering, networking, and mission-focused work that is difficult to find elsewhere. The company also has a large footprint, so there may be internal opportunities for people who are able to navigate the organization.

Cons

My experience was that the quality of management varied significantly by program. Communication around expectations, roles, and priorities was often inconsistent, and decisions that affected employees were not always explained clearly or handled in a transparent way. Work-life balance also depended heavily on local management. Flexibility that existed in practice could be changed quickly, and employees were sometimes left trying to reconcile changing expectations with existing workloads and personal obligations. In my view, the company would benefit from stronger oversight of program-level management decisions, especially where employee responsibilities, workplace flexibility, and performance feedback are concerned. I also found that technical decision-making was sometimes driven more by schedule pressure than by sound engineering judgment. On complex government programs, that can create unnecessary risk and frustration for employees who are trying to do things correctly.

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