Lockheed and Boeing to shed executives

More than 600 Lockheed Martin executives will take buyouts as part of a company-wide move
to shed about 10,000 jobs nationally, the defense giant announced Wednesday.

The executives have
applied for the early-exit program. They represent about 25 percent of the
company’s executive ranks. Those leaving the company early will receive
financial incentives to do so.

{mosads}The reduction allows the nation’s No. 1 defense
contractor to align its senior leadership with the overall cut of
10,000 employees — a move that started last year.

The
senior executive buyout program will enable Lockheed to “achieve
significant cost savings and a leaner management structure at a time
when our customers have an urgent need for more affordable solutions to
the global security challenges they face,” Lockheed Martin Chairman and
CEO Bob Stevens said in a statement.  “We’re grateful to the executives
who will be leaving, because we built this corporation on their
leadership and dedicated service.”

The company’s announcement comes as the Pentagon tightens its
belt and looks for ways to keep the cost of defense programs in
check. Lockheed Martin is the contractor for the Pentagon’s largest
program: the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

To stay in line with its biggest customer — the Pentagon — Lockheed
Martin earlier this year announced other affordability measures,
including a business reorganization, the divestiture of two business
units and a significant reduction in international trade-show
participation and advertising presence.

Lockheed Martin is not the only major defense company to announce
reduction in its executive ranks. Another major contractor,
Boeing, announced Tuesday that it would consolidate its military
aircraft business, reducing its six divisions to four starting Oct. 1.

About 10 percent of the executives in the military aircraft unit
will lose their jobs, and additional reductions across all levels of the
organization are anticipated in coming months, according to a Boeing
statement.