What is a typical working day like at Lockheed Martin?

Awesome pay, benefits, work/life balance

Work holidays if you’re on a rotating shift

4/10 shift work, micro breaks encouraged

very strict attendance policy, no real growth track

Management, ability to move up, hours, flexibility, work-life balance.

Working night shifts can be rough with more limited resources compared to 1st shift.

Flexible hours, with a 2 hour window in which to start or end a shift. Great collaboration within the project I was on

Absolute mismanagement of project funds, poor supply ordering structures leading to complete halts in production, termination of contractors without warning

I can’t think of a single one.

This isn’t just procurement or supply chain I’ve heard very similar stories from friends in engineering, quality, pretty much all across the board. First off, absolutely terrible leadership starting from your low level manager all the way up to VP. They do nothing to ensure you have the tools to do your job effectively or efficiently but still expect you to move mountains. It was exhausting from morning to night. Every single day to the point where my wife was practically begging me to find a new job. If you have a 4/10 work schedule expect to work well over 10 and on your days off including Saturday and Sunday. When you aren’t capable of doing your job for reasons that become apparent very quickly, it turns into a personal performance or attendance issue. We had a team of 6 and every one of us left the group and eventually company for the same or similar reason. Some caught on quickly to the overall department dynamics and the sketchy vibe but the ones who didn’t catch on ended up in the absolute dumpster fire upper management created. First we had our VP retire, a week later our Director left and went to Raytheon with no notice. Two weeks later our Senior Manager retired with no notice and he was a very friendly guy who frequently had personal conversations with each and every employee. Everyone on the team at that point was very surprised and even more suspicious which is when it became apparent something was happening that upper management was hiding from their employees. Then when our direct manager called a random meeting 3 days later to announce she took an entirely new position outside of procurement and supply chain and would be transitioning the following week it was obvious something was wrong. However, at that point it was too late to try and find a new position without getting wrapped up in the overall disaster Lockheed calls their Rotary Mission Systems supply chain because to find a new position it takes weeks sometimes months, you need managerial recommendation most of the time and I didn’t have one so trying to explain that to a hiring manager was difficult in itself because we were left in the dark about everything. There was literally no one able to assist in anything aside from the VP. It was obvious he could not or did not want (I want to say he could not but part of me thinks he simply did not want) to take time out of his day to step in to help his employees when needed. So when one of us was negotiating their very first $100M contract with 6 corporate lawyers with a combined 80 years of negotiation experience at a sole source supplier. One who we had a 25 yr relationship with because they are the only supplier in the world that has the ability to provide this specific material and parts. You run into an issue that requires some higher level assistance, which you always will when negotiating a contract of that amount with a sole source. You’re left with no help whatsoever and your hands tied and the supplier has you backed into a corner. I personally did very well when this happened to me I requested help from other Directors and VP’s however we needed approval from Supply Chain upper management on a requested change to the T&C’s, one that completely changed the terms and would put our production line at a halt for at least 18 months. There were dozens of emails and phone calls going to the VP from various individuals on a daily basis requesting and almost demanding assistance in the most respectful manner possible but if you’re in this position you know every day a counter offer isn’t provided it gives the other side of the table more leverage in the negotiation. Flash forward two months we had a new manager come in who was about inept as they come. However… I thought… finally! We have some assistance! NOPE. She absolutely obliterated the negotiation in the worst way possible in all of 3 weeks. Instead of taking responsibility for her shortcoming when the VP got word. She pointed her fingers at her employees. (Me being the main employee as it was my contract/negotiation but also another Staff Purchasing Rep, someone one level above me who tried to help because he saw I really needed it). I personally had my manager tell me that she requested ethics do a deep dive into my daily time charging as if I were cheating my time card and not doing my job correctly (or in this case at all) and that’s why the negotiation went sideways. The investigation was completed I sent screen shots of daily conversations with the supplier and everything else needed to be entirely absolved of all allegations (which I was never made aware of to begin with). Prior to, there was no offer of a one on one conversation asking if I was cheating time or possibly logging my time incorrectly. No warning, nothing. I was blindsided because it was an immediate personal vendetta from someone I had known for all of maybe a month. She was hired to immediately fill a position that she was no where near ready for and once again that’s on upper management. I spoke with her twice the entire time she was my manager, she ignored or missed every single meeting request from me to discuss issues and assistance needed. I could tell at that point I was looking at some possible bulldozing like the other employees experienced. Still, I held on hope in the company and because it was my only stream of income at the time for my family and I was planning a wedding I could not lose the job. At that point we had another purchase rep leave the company so to my absolute zero surprise she assigned his entire desk (job) to me on top of my already established desk that I worked as my primary job requirement(s). I was now essentially working two jobs. When I could not keep up on the work load because, who could work two 9-5 jobs with the same work schedule and still have a life at home. As I mentioned at this time I was planning a wedding which I made her aware of and I very selfishly had to shy away from helping my wife with the planning at times because I was requested by my manager to take a random 2-3hr phone calls with distributors on a Saturday or Sunday to ensure our raw materials were on dock by Monday so our production line didn’t shut down which they would’ve have because I ensured I brought in enough inventory but to her it was a situation that required my immediate attention on a Saturday at 3pm. That’s aside the point though. I was drowning and everyone knew it and saw it but when someone offered to help my manager declined their offer on my behalf without even asking me if I needed the assistance knowing 1000% it was needed. That’s when other team mates started leaving and applying for other positions outside of the company. Some successfully did, others did not and those who did not ended up fired after being put on a PIP and ultimately failed because our manager was trying to make it seem like it was our group that drove the production procurement/supply chain into the ground. I was put on a PIP while working those two positions. I passed but yet a week later I was called into a meeting with HR and my manager and was told I was being fired for breaking contract. I demanded reasoning and she pulled up everything from me accidentally putting in the wrong charge number to failure to efficiently perform my job duties on a daily basis (I WAS WORKING TWO PEOPLES POSITIONS. No one would be able to efficiently perform both positions). I argued and told them I would sue for wrongful termination. I didn’t hear anything for about 2 months during which time I did everything I could to find a new job yet every time I would get an interview my manager would tell them not to hire me so I was stuck. At that point it was apparent I wouldn’t be able to win this because I was now their fall guy and she had a personal issue with me for reasons I still can’t understand. I ended up leaving after submitting my resignation which she tried to reject but obviously could not. Months later I contacted all of the people I worked with including those in neighboring departments and every single one of them transitioned out of the company.

Great team to work on

10 hour work shift required

Great benefits. Performance bonus. Generous PTO. Relocation assistance. Competitive salary. Schedule. (My schedule is five days on, five days off, four days on, five days off, five days on, four days off. March I will work 17 days, April I will work 16 days, May I will work 14 days.

Shift work. 12 Hour shifts. Schedule. Due to the odd nature of my shift work, more often than not my "weekend" will be mostly weekdays.

Working a 4-10 schedule with pretty good benefits and there's usually plenty of overtime if you want it.

It's an early start on day shift

Great benefits. Performance bonus. Generous PTO. Relocation assistance. Competitive salary. Schedule. (My schedule is five days on, five days off, four days on, five days off, five days on, four days off. March I will work 17 days, April I will work 16 days, May I will work 14 days.

Shift work. 12 Hour shifts. Schedule. Due to the odd nature of my shift work, more often than not my "weekend" will be mostly weekdays.

flexible scheduling - 4x10, 9x80, flex etc great benefits understanding management

sometimes events can be during the night based on availability sometimes, management unwilling/unable to make adjustments to things that affect team progress, whether within the team or from external teams