Lockheed Martin reviews

Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control (MFC) is far behind the technological advances of the last 10 or 20 years. The job of the average engineer is to generate paperwork to maintain or make updates to an existing line of "tried and true" products. When you enter this world, fresh out of college, you quickly begin to lose the useful skills you learned. There are a few classes offered to keep your skills sharp. I once attended a C++ class, taught by a non-LMCO employee. I pondered why no in-house software engineers were capable of teaching the class until a Senior Staff Software Engineer showed up, but as a student who proceeded to interrupt every 10 minutes to ask questions about basic programming concepts. At MFC, it is not uncommon to work for someone with a limited grasp of basic engineering concepts, who either has no technical degree or a degree in an unrelated field. This combination of non-technical managers and technical employees should work, except when the manager is a micromanager, which is prevalent at MFC. I once had a manager suggest that I combine an inverter with a multiplier to create a Verilog divider. Unfortunately, "suggest" meant "go do it now" and I was left contemplating how to violate the laws of physics. The employees that are promoted are not necessarily the most productive or even the most knowledgeable employees. The secret to who excels and who is allowed to languish in the same labor grade remains a mystery. 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 personally felt that I performed poorly (more clerical than technical duties), but I received a high rating. And some years where I worked 70 hour weeks and worked two projects, I got below average ratings. It seems like a random number generator generates the ranking of the average employees, but for the coveted employees, a high rating is ensured regardless of their successes or more importantly, their failures. Some older employees are 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. It is difficult to introduce new concepts or ideas to the engineering community because the age of average worker is 50+, but the solution is not to lay them off or force them to retire. Older employees possess a wealth of useful knowledge that is never passed to the next generation. MFC attempted to correct the problem by implementing a mandatory mentorship program that has been a massive failure. I think this is largely due to the Leadership and Development (ELDP) program, which provides a fast-track for college new hires to management positions in 2 or 3 years. The prospect of a 50+ employee being micromanaged by a 25-year old with absolutely no technical experience, is a slap in the face for the older employees, and seems to lead to a rift between the two age groups, and thus a lack of participation in the mentorship program. But, the ELDP program ensures a new generation of non-technical incompetent managers will continue to micro-manage competent engineers, thus continuing the cycle or "tried and true" behavior that seems to serve this company so well. There is a pervasive culture of laziness and unprofessionalism. There are 5000+ people at MFC, but only about 20% of those employees are productive, where I define productivity as working a dismal 50% of the day. Roughly 60% of the younger employees roam the hallways distracted by their phones. And 75% of the other employees spend the day engaged in pointless non-work related conversations either on the phone or with their non-productive counterparts. In this culture, employees that actually enjoy being productive are viewed in a negative light, since they don't enjoy "sharing" with their fellow employees, where "sharing" means over-sharing every day, for hours, within full earshot of everyone in the wall to wall sea of cubes, which creates a very non-productive environment for anyone attempting to do meaningful work. Working at MFC is great if you plan to stay forever. You will get paid an above-average salary for the area and the benefits are good. But, if you plan to use MFC as a stepping stone, you will fall short. After 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 as that MFC "tried and true" technology that had its heyday in the 1980s. The title of this review comes from a conversation with my lunch buddy, who had been passed up for promotions and decent work assignments for years until he finally opted to retire. In the months prior to his departure, he worked for a lead who was confused about whether it was resistors or capacitors that add when placed in series.

* It's the only high technology based industry in the local area - so be prepared to relocate to either Dallas or Houston if you seek similar employment opportunities. * Work / life balance is practically nonexistent, even though the local facility is supposed to work a 4/10 work week (four ten hour days). Typically, salaried employees are expected to work five days a week, as Lufkin TX must support production schedules at the main site of Dallas TX (Dallas TX works a 9/80 schedule). Worse, salaried employees are required to provide "casual time" each week they work - that is overtime over 40 hours that is uncompensated. Casual time is a metric used to determine who is worthy of a merit increase over the standard 2.5% yearly increase. * The way the Lockheed Martin Total Healthcare plan is structured, higher compensated employees are forced to subsidize lower paid employees medical premiums. New hires may want to consider purchasing their own health insurance, as the plan offered to the Lufkin employees is awful. * The good 'ole boy network is alive and well - if you are not part of the "network", you better forget about any career opportunities or support. * The facility has a very high turn-over of personnel, and its hard to keep skilled talent at this facility. Most personnel who relocate to accept a position with Lockheed Martin in Lufkin typically do not stay more than two or three years. The remoteness of Lufkin, the weird liquor laws (blue laws), and the business culture of working ungodly hours a week take a toll on employees and their families. * It is pointless to give a two weeks notification of your intent to resign - as employees are often terminated immediately upon giving notice. Often this creates a situation where management unwittingly makes a voluntary termination suddenly becomes an involuntary termination. * Limited career growth in this small facility - don't expect promotions, unless someone in management transfers to another Lockheed Martin facility. * There is adversarial relationship between management, salaried personnel, and hourly personnel. The honeymoon of being a new hire end very quickly, as you will get caught in the office politics. * The facility is totally dependent upon government contracts for work - there are no commercial or civilian business pursuits manufactured at this facility to offset downturns in government contract work.