"600 Lockheed executives will retire" Bloomberg News, by September 9, 2010
WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin Corp., the world’s largest defense company, said about 25 percent of its executives opted for a voluntary retirement program designed to cut costs as US defense spending slows....
“It’s a significant cut’’ at the executive management level, rather than the “C-suite level,’’ said Gail Meneley, a cofounder of executive transition firm Shields Meneley Partners in Chicago. C-suite refers to top managers with title acronyms that begin with the letter C, such as chief financial officer.
Lockheed is the second US defense contractor this week to announce cuts in its executive ranks. Boeing Co. said Tuesday it would reduce by 10 percent the managerial jobs at its military aircraft unit as part of a broader effort to eliminate 400 positions in the defense division.
Boeing’s defense unit, which makes F-15 and F/A-18 jet fighters, accounted for about 50 percent of its 2009 sales.
Lockheed’s profit this year, excluding some items, may be $7.15 to $7.35 a share on sales of $45.5 billion to $46.5 billion, the company said in July....
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