My first job was at a large defense company and let me tell you why Boeing's stock never drops- they can't lose money. The contracts are already signed. The money will be paid regardless. There is no consequence to failure because there are no true competitors when contracts are re-bid. I was baffled at how my employer could possibly be making money given the sheer amount of waste I observed on any given day, but as I got more involved in projects I started doing estimates and saw how much money we were making and I realized that we billed by the hour with a hefty profit margin built in and that by intentionally making the business inefficient and ineffective we could just bill more hours, and because we had bought out anyone else with experience in the niche industry we were in, there wasn't much anyone could do about it.
It was really discouraging to me and as a result I have sworn off doing any kind of government sector work again because it was just depressing.
It was really discouraging to me and as a result I have sworn off doing any kind of government sector work again because it was just depressing.