Pros
Extremely competitive compensation for the area. Vanguard 401K vestment after 3 years. Flexible 9/80 work schedule option for salary. Yearly: 11 holidays, 2 weeks vacation. Vacation increases to 3 weeks at 5 years of experience, 4 weeks cap after 15 years experience. Safety-minded culture. Unique technical challenges and opportunities to learn in the nuclear industry. Continuing education reimbursement option. Low or no travel required for most positions. Relocation compensation available. Engineering technical ladder has 8 levels. SEIP (bonuses) and cost of living salary increases typically awarded yearly. Stable, long-lead contracts make for long-term job security. Low to no physical requirements for nearly all salary positions. Completely air-conditioned shop floor. Possible compensation for salary-exempt overtime. On-site clinic and gym. Nutritionist and trainer on staff. Many employee interest clubs. Non-union shop.
Cons
Limited or no access to the internet or personal cell phones. Slow to adopt new technologies. Lots of red tape and self-inflicted regulations slow progress and implementation. Potential exists for exposure to chemicals or radiation in some areas (however, risk is very low). Security force is heavily armed. DOE Security clearance required for all positions. Currently, clearance processing time is 12+ months for new applicants. It can take several years to fill a vacancy. Many areas are understaffed. Draconian maternal/paternal leave policy. New mothers must use short term disability or extend with FMLA (if eligible). New fathers either have to use vacation or FMLA (if eligible). No sick leave. Employees will come to work ill or use vacation. Unpredictable overtime. Management is not consistent when applying company policy. Differences are noticeable between groups and affect scenarios such as triggers for disciplinary action. Management places high value on internal job hopping for career advancement, encouraging a broad but shallow knowledge base. It takes a seemingly inordinate amount of time to accomplish some tasks. At many stages, there is only one individual able to move the process along and you are competing against their other priorities. Roles are not well defined for nonstandard work or jobs that require participation by several groups. Many individuals are not readily willing to take on unfamiliar tasks. Progress towards resolution can be slow and delay the project. First shift starts early. Some employees arrive at 5am to begin their shift and end the day around 1:30pm. Accomplishing some tasks in the afternoon can be a challenge. Mandatory unpaid 30 min lunch break. Knowledge transfer is a weakness. New employees are often given cognizance over an area with little to no preparation or training and are expected to make high consequence decisions while learning on the fly. BWXT had a substantial layoff in the 1990s. Folks that continued on are now approaching retirement leaving an experience gap in their wake. A majority of the workforce has < 15 years experience in a culture that relied upon historical knowledge in their decision making. Tools are not yet in place to ease this transition.