Lockheed Martin Corp., the world’s largest defense contractor, plans to eliminate about 6,500 jobs at its headquarters and corporate service departments, the company said Tuesday. Employees who accept voluntary buyouts will receive a “competitive severance package,” Bethesda-based Lockheed said. “Based on the number of volunteers and budget considerations, the company will make a determination on the need for future involuntary reductions.”
Including Tuesday’s announcement, Lockheed’s layoffs add up to 10,350 jobs since former Defense Secretary Robert Gates signaled a slowdown in U.S. defense spending in 2009.
| Lockheed, Pratt to pay $283 million in F-35 cost overruns |
| Lockheed Martin Corp. and Pratt & Whitney will pay as much as $283 million to defray about one-third of a $918 million cost overrun on the first 28 F-35 fighters, the Pentagon’s program office said Tuesday. |
| Pratt & Whitney is a unit of United Technologies Corp. |
| The government will cover the remaining $635 million, Vice Adm. David Venlet, the program manager, said in an e-mailed statement. In addition, the Pentagon needs to spend $136 million to make improvements to the aircraft that are not considered part of the contract overrun, he said. – Bloomberg |
In June, Lockheed said it would cut 1,500 jobs at the aeronautics unit, which makes the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and eliminate 1,200 positions at its space unit. In May, Lockheed announced 300 job cuts at a Greenville, S.C., plant. Last year, 250 jobs were eliminated at a plant in Eagan, Minn., that made the P-3 surveillance plane, and 600 senior executives took early retirement in September.
The company said it employs 126,000 people. Lockheed shares rose 96 cents, or 1.2 percent to close at $78.40 on the New York Stock Exchange. They have gained 12 percent this year.
