MDA reviews

3.5

72% would recommend to a friend

(645 total reviews)
avatar

Mike Greenley

50% approve of CEO

63% positive business outlook

MDA has an employee rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars, based on 645 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The MDA employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Aeroespacial y defensa industry (3.6 stars).

Reviews by job title

645 reviews
1.0
Apr 12, 2017

Stay away! Stay VERY far away!

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Cafeteria isn't bad but would be better if subsidized a bit. No healthy options either, but they do have vegetarian options though. That's the only positive I believe there is, unfortunately! Well, you do get to say you worked at MDA, which "may" look good on your resume if you pull out the $5 bill and show people the back, or the old $100.

Cons

Everything! Outdated technology. Very restricted IT policies. Can't plug any USB into a computer. Can't access most websites, even from the public wifi offered. Can't download photos through USB from company provided cellphone! Ancient working methods using file structures to organize and manage projects. Lots of politics!!!! Cliques! Many people who's only EVER worked at MDA their whole career! They have no other work experience but are "know it all's". Many alpha-male types / a-type personalities, who only like to hear themselves talk! If you want to work here be prepared to be underpaid. You're still reading? There's nothing good here, really. Working here was probably the worst career move I've ever made!!! I tried sticking it out in the hopes it would get better but nope! Now I spend my evenings job searching, hoping for anything just to get me out of here! Quarterly reviews are so high-level and more of a show than anything else. Another word that comes to mind for MDA is sweatshop! Every project re-invents the wheel, seeming to start from scratch! They sell it as a project "start-up". It's not a start-up! It's nothing like a start-up! Start-up's are much more agile and use new technology tools and methods and don't have all the politics. Startups don't use the waterfall methodology! Still reading? Really, don't work here! They don't pay bonuses. They have a loophole around overtime by calling it "flex time" and it's a 1:1 ratio, unlike overtime that's paid at 1.5 or double time. And if you do work flex time to make sure you deliver your work package on time for the project's benefit or you'll be questioned why you're working flex time. The reality is you're working extra to make sure MDA is successful. It's insulting to be asked this question. Then any flex time you do have can be used against you! Yes, you read that right. The company can force you to take time off using your flex time. So if you've accumulated say 2 weeks or 6 weeks, etc. and they are going through a slow time, or need people to take a break on a project else they'll burn through the budget then they force people to take/use the flex time they've accumulated. So it's not like you get to take the time off when you want that you busted your butt to save theirs and that's the thanks you get! Why did I take this job? Oh why!!! Is God punishing me for previous sins? There must be a logical answer to this! Life cannot be so cruel!!!

1.0
Apr 5, 2017

Complacency

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

$1 pancake on friday, aside from that, very little.

Cons

This company does not foster collaboration in their teams, everyone is given their own work package and an allocated time budget to finish the task. Taking time away from yourself to help another coworker is inherently 'punished' since you're wasting your own allocated time. Managers don't care for your career development. you better hope that your supervisor will fight for you because if not, you won't be seeing yourself progressing up the ladder. pay is below market value.

1.0
Mar 29, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Friendly and intelligent peers Work day eventually ends Richmond office seems nice

Cons

- Notoriously cheap, unable to provide basic resources for employees to perform their jobs - Most company IT operations based out of Richmond, BC with 3 hour time difference. Firewall issue? Network issues? Critical deadline? Wait until 12PM at a minimum. - Office was unkempt and filthy, consistently found 20+ year old equipment plugged in doing nothing, cabling was a mess, air conditioner wasn't cleaned for years, holes in the floor, network cabling a mess - Managers have no actual management experience - and it shows, they were promoted through seniority. Managers are also not rated by employees, which means despite terrible performance - this never actually gets discussed higher in the chain of command and addressed - The majority of your time will be spent dealing with the laughably slow bureaucratic processes of this inefficient beast. Prepare to spend all of your time writing emails for 7 weeks to appease company politics - only to find the work you were going to do has been cancelled.

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Glassdoor has 812 MDA reviews submitted anonymously by MDA employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if MDA is right for you.