Declining Defense Aerospace Fortunes - Senior Programmer Analyst Lockheed Martin Employee Review

As is common in the defense aerospace industry, fortunes fluctuate with the defense budget. Currently, declining budgets will be the norm for many years to come. Lockheed Martin Space Systems (LMSS) is falling behind technologically and relies on its “one-trick” pony product to justify its existence to its one major customer. There have been other opportunities to exploit which has been squandered by its persistently weak management. Unless you are in Engineering or Finance, you really have no real possibility of career advancement despite any technical or leadership abilities you possess. IT professionals beware as this is a weigh station of your work life. The employees that are promoted are not necessarily the most productive or even the most knowledgeable. As to who is allowed to excel and who withers in the same salary level may extend from a previous Lockheed cultural trait known as the “good old boy” network. There is a review process where co-workers list your strengths and weaknesses. But, the rating of the average employee seems to be predetermined and the strengths and weaknesses seem to be "massaged" to justify the predetermined rating. Some years, I thought I performed poorly (my manger gleefully chastised me) yet received a satisfactory rating. Some years where I worked 60 to 70 hour weeks and worked multiple projects, I still received a satisfactory rating. But for the coveted employees, a high rating is ensured regardless of their successes or more importantly, their failures. In the facility where I worked, the average age of an LMSS employee was between 45 and 50 years of age. I noticed some of the older employees were treated in a less than fair manner in an attempt to reduce the average age of the workforce by forcing the older employees to retire. Youth must be served but the solution is not to lay them off first or force them to retire. In some cases, knowledge (difficult to replace knowledge) from older employees does not remain at the company. LMSS manage attempted to fix the problem by implementing a mandatory mentorship program. It failed miserably. Do not stay too late at this party. Use LMSS as a stepping stone in your career. Working on trailing edge technology for years, you will be ill-equipped to pursue a career in the commercial world, and will quickly be rendered as obsolete.