Working at Lockheed Martin — Reviews by Employees

I retired from LM after 3 decades with the company (and prior companies from which LM acquired me half way thru my career). I started as an exempt entry level college and ended as an executive. I lived within my means - saved 10% or more of what I made, with my wife put our children thru college, enjoyed my worklife and am now enjoying "retirement".

I read every comment about LM here (7 pages) and believe after doing so that this is not representative of the company at all. LM isn't perfect in any way - but it is a top notch employer that makes a difference and which will do well by its employees who work hard and contribute.

I found that hard work, long hours, sacrifice, intelligence, thick skin, ego but controlled, willingness to work as part of a team all lead to me being successful. I managed other employees for my last 25 years and have experience with many of the kinds of folks who comment at sites like this, they only look here and comment here if they first - have the time to spare vs between working on their job and balancing that with sleep and their family.

LM is, like so many of the other companies reviewed here - a good place to work. But scan down the scale - and look at the scores - that will give you an idea the type of people commenting here so you can gauge on your own the veracity of the input. To stick to the items asked - pay is very competitive - benefits fit with what else is offered by competitors - if pay and benefits were not competitive - all the great people working there wouldn't be - they would go the competing companies.

Respect - here you get what you work to get. The folks who portray these "management conspiracies - all the employees are great but the managers have been in place forever and their entire goal in life is to use you up and take credit for what you do" - that is just what it sounds like - crying over spilled milk by the person who spilled it and about those who didn't.

Work life balance - don't work here or in any large competitive environment if you are looking to work 40 hours each week - never be bothered during the weekend - get your 2,3,or eventually 4 weeks of vacation - a full half year of sick time (of course you actually have to be sick) and stroll into the office at 8:30 and after a nice break in the morning and afternoon and a long lunch go home at 5:30. If that is your view of work life balance - you can probably get away with doing the absolute minimum and if you are good and actually contribute during your 8 hours each day - survive - but you won't thrive - there are too many of us willing to work hard - conditioned to work hard - loving to work hard so that you will just survive - and that is one reason you will write here. You would be better off to seek a job in France.

Having a good manager is important - and building a relationship with him / her is as well - but this is not a company that you have to "know people" to get ahead - you have to work hard and make a difference. You have to compromise your personal beliefs and behaviors and expectations such that you fit with the team (and no one expects those compromises to be any where near the line in terms of ethics or legality - just some modicum of conformity, manners and friendliness)...

So much for my observations - had a great career - worked with a number of the countries best scientists, on projects that our country relies on everyday to remain free and leading in the world, technology that drives a fair amount of what we do at home each day - enjoying retirement and wish well to all who choose to engage in a meaningful way over your careers - good luck.

Engineering in Owego is not the place to be, going on third round of layoffs in 1 year. Funny how none of the people that caused the problems have been let go, only the workers. I see no future with all the doom in the future. Been here only a few years, time to move on before the next layoff.

If you are a Veteran of the U.S. Military do not work for Lockheed Martin. They are very prejudice against the U.S. Military. Constantly I hear "military leadership is different from corporate leadership, this is not the Military". Lockheed Martin is the largest defense contractor who famously expresses "We never forget who we are working for". The DOD should cancel all contracts with Lockheed Martin; they are ripping off the American Taxpayer with sub-standard products. LM Management is only "riding the gravy train" until they can retire. There is no real creativity and enthusiasm for building great things. They stick people in cube cities and forget about them. The Performance Rating System is a sham, a joke. It's all about who you know, not what you know. Go work for a smaller company where you will not be treated as a number but as an important member of an important team. Do not work for Lockheed Martin; don't waste your efforts, your time, and your life on a company that does not care for their employees.

I HATED this job. I'm so glad I left. They played games and BS'd me since day one. I even got a Master's degree because of (verbal) promises of promotions and I got NOTHING but 2% raises. What got me out the door was when they denied me a service award because I was late for work twice. They awarded everyone on the team of 30 people except me and 2 other guys. Some of the people who got awards were sleeping on the job, IF they showed up for work! I've done sooo musch overtime for them it is ridiculous. Not to mention, the benefits are crap. Your salary isnt going to mean anything because you have to pay oodles towards your benefits. LMC will continue to soar in profits, even while government is down because they dont give two sh*ts about their employees.

Lockheed is a mega-corporation, and you feel like a number with no potential for personal or career growth. There are something like 130,000 employees, so you really have no say in the company. Co-workers and management are mostly slackers because there is little incentive to perform, other than the minimum possible amount of work. Pay raises are based on a bell-curve, as opposed to actual performance. Government defense spending is at an all time high, when that inevitably drops, jobs here will be scarce. The salary they pay you and the amount of work demanded of you is just enough to keep you there.

Pay - What can I say? I used to work for the Feds and left 5 years ago to come to LM. By now I would have been a GS-11 Step 10 if I stayed in the Government- which is 2K more than I am currently making at LM after 5 years service. They suppress pay by lowballing some as an experienced professional - and once you are in - expect to receive some unfair reviews (and low or non-existent raises) in order to keep your salary down. That is if you are not connected. Also, they have a quota that so many must receive low ratings, regardless of performance. All while the CEO makes 25 mil. bonus every year.

Respect - No comment

Benefits - average

Job Security. We are going through a layoff drill right now.

Work Life Balance - they will work you into the ground if you let them. You're expected to make up personal time off by flexing out whenever possible. Moorestown is the only place to have a union - so therefore management still has to pay us for extra hours worked. If ASPEP goes it will be just like all the other branches - work 50 hours a week with no extra pay because they can now classify you as salaried.

Career Potential Growth - Get a Master's degree on their dime and bolt. The company lowballs experienced professionals - and then makes it difficult or impossible to get promoted to the appropriate level without going through HR/Union's protocol. They have ELDP for the young grads. They have System Engineering Rotational Program for older folks- I hear it used to be an honor to be selected for that program. In my experience, it just might be a politically correct way of management to dispose of people they consider excess. People are rotated to different departments for two years and nobody has a clue or a plan what to do with them when they graduate from this program. I found myself displaced after being put on this program and trying to come back to the department I started at. My management didn't have a job for me to come back to. Then I was encouraged to take a transfer in another department where I became trashed by that manager.

Location - average.

Co worker competence - Some are really excellent - the best in their field. Others are just getting by.

Coworker Environment - "Survivor" environment is just about right. I expect Donald Trump to appear any day now. Hostile, rude, intimidating, - rude. Performance reviews are rated on a "bell curve". You are told to set up Goals and Objectives. You meet them. You still get rated bad because you didn't rank well amongst your "peers" ). You ask what their goals and objectives are and management says they don't have to tell you. Your "peers" can also be your "multiraters." Your peers can badmouth you and it ends ups determining your low rating. One even took credit for my work and had negative input into my review. Not surprisingly, he ranked higher and got a better raise/review. I asked someone in HR what my "multiraters" (which I didn't pick) said about me - and the reply was "you'll never get that."

The union is no help because they are really part of management - you are on your own.

Run, don't walk, away from "opportunities" here. Benefits get worse every year. There is no work/life balance. Two weeks of paid time off includes vacation, sick days, etc. They claim to offer personal time, however it's "advanced" and has to be made up. Many coworkers will not be able to take any vacation this year because we were required to use vacation time if we couldn't make it to work during the snowstorms and blizzard that hit Baltimore this winter.

The bottom line is all that matters - stockholders rule and employees are slaves.

Time off is nearly non-existent. There is no respect for employees, as evidenced by the fact that the offices remained open during blizzard conditions, and even after city residents were not allowed to drive on the streets to get to work. Employees were forced to use vacation time or take time off without pay.

In most years, raises do not even meet the increases in the cost of living. There is absolutely no potential for promotion or advancement. No training opportunities are offered.

I would agree with other postings on here in that Lockheed Martin is just awful. I hate my job. I've only been there a short time but I know that my skills are wasted and I do the dumbest tasks each day. The company is full of 40+ and 50+ aged white guys who don't want to work with anyone who doesn't have gray hair. And forget about doing a job that you dreamed of doing, you will sit around bored or doing some easy and obsolete job. The place is not fun at all, you will get no joy out of your job. Its just that, a job, by no means a career. I hate Lockheed Martin.

I wish I knew this site existed before I made my decision to work here. If you have a family or are thinking about starting one, look elsewhere. If you are Generation X or Y, skip company LM. My advice, read the other the posts before applying. Just look at the consistency of the responses.