Lockheed Martin Offers Voluntary Layoff Packages to 6,500 Employees

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You can add aerospace to the list of industries that seem to be sputtering. The latest sign of this is Lockheed Martin's announcement that they are offering voluntary lay-off packages to about 6,500 employees. All U.S.-based, salaried employees who report to Lockheed's corporate headquarters or internal business services organization will be receiving severance offers to leave their jobs this fall, as will about 5,000 employees who work in areas such as payroll and information technology.

According to the Washington Post, employees who are eligible are scattered across the country, with the majority of them, about 2,000, based in the Washington, D.C. area. About 1,300 workers are eligible in Florida, and over 700 in Denver, while the company's Fort Worth site has about 500 eligible employees, and a Valley Forge, Pa., office has about 300 who could accept the buyouts.

The offers, which include two weeks' pay and a week of pay for every year of service, up to 26 weeks, are just that: offers. Lockheed Martin doesn't expect everyone to take them. In fact, officials expect only about two percent to accept these buyouts. They have until Aug. 12 to decide whether or not they want to accept. After that, they're taking their chances of getting a less generous severance package when involuntary layoffs become necessary.

And yes, there is a good chance of that. These offers come on the heels of 3,300 layoffs that happened earlier this year in aeronautics, space systems and other segments, according to Nasdaq.com. It's all part of an effort for Lockheed Martin to streamline, as the government trims military and aerospace expenses. The Pentagon is urging contractors to streamline their bids, and this is Lockheed Martin's attempt to accommodate that.