Skip to contentSkip to footer
      employer cover photo
      employer logo
      employer logo

      Leonardo

      Engaged Employer

      Leonardo reviews

      3.8

      76% would recommend to a friend

      (1,341 total reviews)

      Roberto Cingolani

      91% approve of CEO

      70% positive business outlook

      Ratings by demographic groups

      Leonardo has an employee rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars, based on 1,341 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Leonardo employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Aerospaziale e difesa industry (3.6 stars).

      Reviews by job title

      1K reviews
      3.0
      Jun 26, 2022

      Huge potential but lack of direction within a blame culture.

      Project engineer
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Working in the Helicopters division gives you an incredible unique experience compared with other companies in the UK. Not only are we the only Helicopter manufacturer based in-country, but the whole end-to-end process is carried out on-site in Yeovil. Nowhere else will you get the experience of conceptual design through to seeing your product flying away from the factory. The potential of the company is enormous, and the steps that the Italian side of the company are taking towards digitisation, transformation and harmonisation between divisions is really promising. The potential of Research and Innovation is massive, and there are steps being taken that look very promising that we may expand our product catalogue to exploit developing markets. The graduate and apprentice schemes are exceptional with plenty of opportunities for those at the start of their career to grow and explore avenues they did not think were open to them. The Senior Leadership Team on the whole are very approachable, supportive and honest. The Soft Benefits of a very flexible "flexi-time" are excellent. The on-site Occupational Health team are fantastic for both physical and mental health support. The pension scheme defined benefit is very generous.

      Cons

      Currently, the Helicopter division pays well below industry standard at all levels within Engineering. It seems studies and focus groups into "why our retainment of graduates is so low" ignores a key problem that is raised every time; that they are simply not paid well enough. The company's recent focus on AW149 has distracted from the fact that the future strategy and road map is non-existent. The contracts the company is winning is with existing customers, where many of the 'new' contracts are simply upgrades to existing platforms/fleets. The outlook beyond two years seems bleak. Whilst the potential is massive, a historical lack of interest in the future and resting on our 'Westland' laurels has resulted in a huge skills gap and a drop in initiative and creative problem solving. The older and more senior employees are happy to sit on "this is how we've always done it". The current way of managing problems is to fire fight, and those that cause delays / bottle necks have the finger pointed at them by external departments. The company tried pushing a "One Leonardo" approach between divisions, but honestly it doesn't even feel like we're "One Leonardo Helicopters".

      avatar
      Leonardo Response
      4y
      Thank you for your comprehensive and balanced review of your experiences of working with Leonardo. As you point out, there is huge potential at Leonardo and we are looking to ensure we continue to be an exciting and challenging place to work. Our Senior Leadership Team is focussed on a long term vision and strategy for the Yeovil business as well as winning new business in the short term. We are also introducing a new company-wide grading structure that will be in place during 2023. We appreciate there is always more to be done and we welcome open conversations with our colleagues and therefore we would welcome the opportunity to continue the conversation with you, especially with regard to the communication ideas you have suggested, please contact us at communications@leonardo.com.
      3.0
      Jan 3, 2022

      A few good apples outnumbered and outgunned by obsolete autocrats...for now

      Principal systems engineer
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Leonardo has many very high profile contracts, and the ability to win more. If you want access to the famous projects Leonardo is known for, then this is the place to be. As a large company, Leonardo ensures that its staff have access to a strong suite of benefits and competitive compensation. On some specific projects, a concerted effort has been made to create an enclave within Leonardo where the normal drawbacks of working here apply significantly less. Within these projects, Leonardo behaves like a modern engineering company. Generally, things are trending positive. This is because significant recruitment and retention issues are starting to directly force the company to change. There are quite a few career opportunities available for the same reason.

      Cons

      If you've grown up with the internet, you may pay a heavy psychological price to work here, depending on the project you end up on. Leonardo features a high density of autocrats with heavily outdated expertise in senior positions, to the point where many of them see enough reinforcement from their peers to avoid even a hint of introspection. If you're working on in-service equipment, you'll likely be surrounded by them. If you're on the bad projects, then you'll need to love being told exactly what to do and how to do it using methods that are about twenty years out of date, with no hope of ever improving anything. If you want to be on the cutting edge, have any autonomy, or be respected for understanding any post-9/11 technologies, then joining Leonardo is a risky proposition. You might land in the right place in the company...but those places aren't the ones with the vacancies.

      avatar
      Leonardo Response
      4y
      Thanks for our review, we always value the feedback of our employees. We have passed your comments on to the relevant teams.
      5.0
      Dec 3, 2021

      Enjoyable Place to Work

      Senior configuration engineer
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Collaborative environment Custom working. Prior to Covid 19, flexi time was the norm but custom working supports working from home or on site as required. Competitive salary Excellent support during the Covid 19 pandemic. IT department worked exceptionally well supporting IT challenges across all sites. Company engaged with employees ensuring team collaboration still continued to avoid employees feeling isolated with a focus on employee mental health at this time. Very people orientated company and pro-active with any issues raised. Workplace benefits / Flexible Benefits - including an annual allocation of £500 to cover/contribute to the cost of additional company benefits offered. Really good selection from buying the latest tech to contributing to an ISA.

      Cons

      No cons exclusive to Leonardo that have not been observed in previous workplaces that are worth noting.

      Viewing 283 - 285 of 1,341 Reviews
      Related searches: Leonardo jobs | Leonardo salaries | Leonardo benefits | Leonardo interviews
      ReviewsLeonardo reviews

      Glassdoor has 2,524 Leonardo reviews submitted anonymously by Leonardo employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Leonardo is right for you.