Starting out - Staff Officer Allegheny Science & Technology Employee Review

I have worked for Allegheny Science & Technology (AST) for 7 years. I have found management to be fair and supportive and salaries to be competitive. I have been happy with the health benefits, too.

As with working for any federal government contractor, there is some stress involved when it comes time for contract rebid.

The company has so much promise, but they are throwing it away by treating their staff terribly.

I was so excited to work here. The staff that interviewed me were all so enthusiastic, and I'm usually a decent judge of character. But I had them all wrong. I've since spoken with several staff who work for big money government contracts and were promised the moon coming in, only to be met with the expectation that we work around the clock, have to deal with brutal managers, and don't get any of the work life balance that corporate staff gets. As a perfect example, I have more 12 hour days than not. And there is little flexibility on when I can do any work remotely, despite the fact that my commute decreases my work time by easily 2 hours per day in the DC area. Sometimes, the only reason a 12 hour day isn't a 14 hour day (because they would like that, trust me) is that I have 2 hours spent on the road, and there is zero flexibility on doing anything from home, despite being fully equipped to do so.