Although the sequester – automatic cuts in government spending across a wide range of programs – went into effect Friday, many of the potential consequences are still uncertain.
Senior finance and journalism double-major Angela Wong, who works as a co-op for Lockheed Martin, said that Lockheed Martin has been planning for the potential of a sequester for years. “There is a risk that particular job positions [at Lockheed Martin] will close,” she said. Yet she does not know whether her potential for a job with Lockheed Martin after graduating this spring will be affected. “It’s very uncertain,” she said.
Wong said the sequester will impact people who are entering any industry, but especially those in contracting and research and development. “[The sequester is] just another worry for college students who are graduating,” she said.
Amir Shah, a senior aerospace engineering major who is also a co-op for Lockheed Martin, said hiring at Lockheed Martin has slowed since there was the potential of a sequester. He is interested in getting a job with Lockheed Martin after graduating this spring but said, “I don’t know what [the sequester and decreased hiring are] going to mean for graduates like me, but it’s certainly not good news.”
Shah said Lockheed Martin is conducting internal reorganization in efforts to save money. He thinks that Lockheed Martin’s actions and the effects on its workers are similar to those of other companies in related industries and that the effects could be worse for small companies than for large ones such as Lockheed Martin.
On July 18, 2012, Lockheed Martin released a statement predicting, “Our very rough estimate of the number of employees who could be affected, based on the limited information available to us from the government, is about 10,000.”
“Some may consider it flattering to believe that our industry is so robust and so durable that it could absorb the impact of sequestration without breaking stride,” said Lockheed Martin’s Executive Chairman Robert J. Stevens in a statement before the House Armed Services Committee on July 18, 2012. “But this is fiction.”