Nearly 250 Employees Opt to Leave Lockheed’s IT Unit

Nearly 250 employees at Lockheed Martin Corp.’s Information Systems and Global Solutions business unit were approved for the company’s voluntary layoff program, Federal Times reported.

A company spokeswoman told Federal Times that 260 mid-level managers applied to the program, and 243 were accepted.  She said that the company was not planning additional layoffs, but would “continue to evaluate our workforce needs given today’s budget environment.”

The unit announced the voluntary layoffs in February, and was aiming to trim its workforce by 300 to 350 people. Patricia Lewis, Lockheed Martin’s vice president for human resources at the IS&GS business unit, told employees that the company would conduct the layoffs “as part of an ongoing affordability initiative.”  The move came after the unit announced a 14 percent year-over-year reduction in sales in January, citing a shrinking federal information technology budget.

A Lockheed Martin spokesman told Federal Times that the IS&GS unit was continuing to evaluate possible actions in response to the across-the-board budget cuts from sequestration.  On March 8, the company said in a press release that sequestration may lead to furloughs and layoffs, and noted that it “is a very difficult time for our employees and their families.”