Our People
Our employees are the heart of General Dynamics
We rely on our employees' intimate knowledge of customer requirements and their unique blend of skill and innovation to develop and produce the best possible products and services.
Employee Safety
Maintaining a safe work environment for our employees is paramount. Our policies and standards require that we operate in a way that promotes safety and well-being. Across the business, we take measures to prevent workplace hazards, enforce a culture of continuous improvement to ensure our processes help reduce injuries and illnesses, and comply with all applicable health and safety laws.
Across the business, we take measures to prevent workplace hazards, enforce a culture of continuous improvement to ensure our processes help reduce injuries and illnesses, and comply with the governing health and safety laws.
More than 60 of our sites operate under ISO 45001, widely regarded as the world’s highest occupational health and safety standard, and more are in the process of achieving certification. Under ISO 45001, workplace safety is not a stand-alone issue but rather an integral part of the business strategy to maintain a sustainable organization. As a result of our efforts, many of our BUs have been recognized for their success in promoting health and safety among their workers.
As a result of our efforts, many of our business units have been recognized for their success in promoting health and safety among their workers.
Employee Well-Being
We are committed to providing our employees and their families the means to lead healthy, productive lives. We invest in their physical, emotional, social and financial well-being to help them achieve their full potential, personally and professionally.
Our well-being programs provides resources, information, motivation and support to empower our employees to make informed decisions. Each of our business units develops and provides customized benefits programs that best meet the needs of its employees.
Diversity and Inclusion
Our Ethos — rooted in respect — guides how we engage with each other, and our workplaces reflect policies, procedures and practices that cultivate diversity, equity and inclusion at their core.
We work to continually improve representation of diverse talent at all levels of the company so that our workforce reflects the communities in which we operate. Our ongoing efforts include developing ways to attract, develop and retain diverse talent.
In 2022, 40% of our new hires were people of color.
Learn more about our diversity recruiting efforts
Pipeline Programs and Recruiting
General Dynamics partners with local colleges, high schools, trade schools and universities to provide internship and training opportunities, as well as to participate in job fairs. In many cases, we also provide input on curriculum so that schools match their programs to meet the skills students will need in the workplace. We provide hundreds of internship opportunities to expose students to real-world projects through hands-on experiences. Each year, we offer hundreds of internships across the company, as well as traditional apprenticeships in manufacturing or design competencies. We have relationships with many colleges and universities to offer internships or to participate in job hiring events.
In 2022, General Dynamics offered nearly 1,200 internship opportunities across the company, as well as another 600 traditional apprenticeships in manufacturing or design competencies.
We're honored to have longstanding partnerships with global diversity efforts through which we recruit for internships and early career positions. Engagement in these efforts strengthens our access to diverse talent and supports our mission and the missions of our partners.
Investing in Our Talent
Our employees are our most important resource. They are what enable us to deliver to our customers and shareholders. In the interest of recruiting and retaining the most qualified talent, we continually enhance our efforts to fulfill our employees’ career and educational aspirations, support their personal and family needs, and invest in the communities where they work and live.
We engage and develop employees to prepare our workforce for the future. With our customers, local governments, colleges, technical and trade schools, and internal and external subject matter experts, we create programs that are tailored to our unique needs and offer employees development opportunities that enhance their present and future potential to deliver excellence to our customers.
Our employees have access to many development programs throughout their careers with General Dynamics, including:
- engineering and manufacturing leadership programs
- systems engineering architect leadership programs
- program, project and capture management leadership programs
- over 1,000 participants in our tuition assistance program
- active learnings center in our shipyards teaching over 200 job skills
- pipeline programs to onboard new hires and utilize mentorship
- GDIT Career Hub designed for internal job mobility
Retaining Diverse Talent
Across our business units, we cultivate inclusive work environments by supporting ERGs and diversity councils that are sponsored at the highest levels of our company with senior executive sponsors. Their efforts support overall company objectives and involvement in the community and serve as resource for specific segments of the workforce across our corporation. Currently, we have more than 30 ERGs that serve 10 distinct employee segments. Over the past three years, we have seen increased engagement and participation within our established groups and have welcomed several new groups.
Thousands of employees are engaged in ERGs across General Dynamics including:
- AbilityFirst
- Employee Multi-Cultural Coalition
- Black Engineering Council
- ForWARD (For Women's Advancement, Recognition and Development)
- HOLA (Hispanic Latinx Association)
- Veterans Network/Veterans Council
- GD Pride
- C.O.R.E. (Culture, Onboarding, Retention, Experience)
Supporting our Veterans
We believe that our veterans share our devotion to providing the products and services to our nation that secure our liberty. This shared belief strengthens our dedication to hiring, training and upskilling veteran and active military employees and their families.
Our efforts extend to multiple partnerships with organizations that support efforts that better the position of our external and internal military communities. We offered dedicated employee resource groups and mentoring programs that assist in attracting, transitioning and retaining this critical part of our workforce.
More than 19% of our U.S. workforce are veterans. This is three times higher than the number of veterans in the U.S. adult population. In 2022, we hired 3,571 veterans.