Pros
9/80 work week Does have a tight screening process on hiring employees - so work force is well qualified. Does have and use training budget - so an employee can learn certain skills.
Cons
Eliminated pension in 2008. Has a 401K plan that is not very employee frriendly. People hired pre-2008 can get a company match of 4%, but have to contribute 10% of their salary to get the Northrop 4%. People hired after 2008 get a 6% match, but conditions are also hard to meet in order to get the full 6%. Matching conditions are not easily discoverable. Raise pool over time has become very unfriendly to employees. Performance appraisal process is not connected to salary. Employees get ranked based on how they meet their goals. Then the company decides on a yearly basis what percentage of employees need to be ranked as Level 5, 4, 3 or 2. Level 5 employees can get a decent raise, even in the 10% range. But about 1/2 of the employees get a 0% raise - because so many people have to be ranked Level 3. Then the salary decides what raise the person gets - if the employee makes over the mid-point salary of the employee grouping, the raise is likely to be 0% for all Level 3 employees. This is incredibly demotivating for employees: they can work hard, meet or exceed all of their goals, and still get a 0% raise. Years ago the company implemented a policy that disallows brining personal plants to the office - to eliminate using Northrop water for a personal plant. Benefits costs are skyrocketing as the company tries to eliminate money it spends on employee benefts. However, Northrop is truly a 1% company. Executives are treated much differenty than non-management. VPs and above receive large salary increases, as well as bonuses - while ~50% of the normal people get 0%. Over years, the company has eliminated many grade levels - making it very difficult to get promoted. It is a good company to work at for 2 - 3 years, but not for 10 or more.