APRIL 26, 2024 — 1,500 LAYOFFS
The company has announced it is continuing its restructuring plan, which includes about 1,500 layoffs after the U.S. Army program ended the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft scout helicopter and Shadow unmanned aircraft programs.
OCTOBER 5, 2023 — 179 IN CONNECTICUT
The company has announced that 179 employees in the company's business segment face layoff because “several major programs are progressing into production and they no longer need the same level of development support.”
According to a company spokesperson, "This was a difficult decision to make, and we intend to retain as many people as possible to fill our open business-critical positions that are required to support urgent national security missions.”
Sikorsky’s spokesperson also noted, that “they've been impacted by ongoing material shortages, which have affected their cost competitiveness.”
MARCH 3, 2023 — 176 EMPLOYEE LAYOFFS IN MARYLAND
The company, responding to the end of a contracted program, has announced plans for layoffs of 176 employees supporting the heavy lift helicopter program at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland.
According to a spokesperson, “We made staffing adjustments to the team supporting the heavy lift helicopter program at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, to reflect the planned progression and conclusion of the CH-53K system development and demonstration test and evaluation program.”
JANUARY 25, 2023 — 800 POSITIONS IN ROTARY WING BUSINESS
Lockheed Martin announced that is cutting 800 jobs in its rotary and mission systems division, including Stratford, Connecticut-based.
According to a spokesperson, the company would cut the jobs through a mix of transfers to other Lockheed Martin subsidiaries, attrition through people leaving of their own accord, and a limited number of job cuts.”
DECEMBER 11, 2022 — BLACKHAWK DOWN?
Since the Army selected the Bell V-280 Valor tiltrotor aircraft to replace the Sikorsky Black Hawk, what happens to the 13,000 employees, with 8,500 located in Stratford, Bridgeport, Shelton, and Trumbull, Connecticut?
The loss of business also impacts approximately 250 subcontractors and other vendors of Sikorsky sub-components.
Since the company produces a number of other aircraft, could the slack be reduced by sales to foreign governments — possibly with dollars designated for Ukraine? Will there be a contract challenge? Sub-component work?
Time for employees to maintain situational awareness and possibly seek retraining or a side-hustle.
AUGUST 23, 2021 — CLOSURE OF THE COATESVILLE PLANT WITH 360 LAYOFFS
Lockheed Martin has announced the closure of its Sikorsky Coatesville, Pennsylvania helicopter plant scheduled for March 2022.
Approximately 360 employees will be affected by the closure.
According to a company spokesperson, “the company has made a final decision to exit its Coatesville facility and consolidate the work in other Lockheed Martin locations due to a downturn in the commercial helicopter sector.”
AUGUST 3, 2018
Sikorsky spokesperson Paul Jackson noted, “Sikorsky will not renew the lease for the Florida Assembly and Flight Operations property ... and will vacate the building by year-end.
Closing the helicopter assembly operation at the campus it shares with Pratt & Whitney will result in a lay off of about 500 — nearly half of the employees at the Palm Beach County site.
JULY 31, 2018
Sikorsky spokesperson Paul Jackson noted, “Sikorsky informed employees today of a decision to consolidate operations to adjust to lower US Government aircraft demand, eliminate the resulting excess capacity, and protect our ability to compete by reducing cost.
As a result, we will not renew the lease for the Florida Assembly and Flight Operations (FAFO) property in West Palm Beach and will vacate the building by year-end. We will continue to operate the Development Flight Center on the same campus. Additionally, approximately 150 salaried employee layoffs will occur throughout the company by year-end as a voluntary separation package offered to salaried employees in June did not yield the expected number of applicants. These two actions combined will impact 5% of the Sikorsky workforce. These decisions are always very difficult but necessary to ensure we can deliver affordable products for our customers to complete their missions.”
APRIL 30, 2018 — Original post ...
It appears that a confluence of events are likely to produce up to 200 permanent layoffs in the Sikorsky/Lockheed’s facility in Jupiter, Florida.
The layoffs appear to be targeted at workers involved with the Blackhawk military helicopter program.
Lockheed Martin Chairman, President and CEO, Marillyn Hewson, commenting on first quarter 2018 net sales of $11.6 billion said, “Strong operational and program execution in the first quarter allowed us to increase our financial guidance for sales, profit and earnings per share. Our team remains dedicated to performing with excellence, offering affordable and innovative solutions for our customers, and delivering exceptional value to our shareholders.” While also noting that sales in the Rotary and Missions Systems Group (which includes Sikorsky) increased by $96 million, but “These increases were partially offset by a decrease of $190 million for Sikorsky helicopter programs due to lower volume for government helicopter programs.”
Nothing is set in stone, but the handwriting for some employees is clearly on the wall as company spokesperson said, “We have not made any announcements but continually review all our business operations to ensure we are properly sized for current and longer-term business requirements and economic conditions within our marketplaces.”
Look for an upcoming shootout for the next generation of helicopters. Sikorsky/Boeing’s SB>1 Defiant against Textron/Bell’s V-280 Valor. We can only hope that critical workers can be retained to avoid what happened to the skilled staff at NASA – who appears unable to send astronauts to the International Space Station without Russian launch vehicles.
Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. We see good people being laid off through no fault of their own. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?