Lockheed Martin laying off 10% of Greenville workforce

As many as 180 South Carolinians could be out of a job after Lockheed Martin announced it will layoff 10% of staff working in the global aerospace giant’s Greenville facility.

The layoffs follow a decision by the United States Air Force not to continue a $900 million contract for maintenance and upgrades of the country’s fleet of F-16s. The contract, announced in 2020, was supposed to last for 10 years and bring 15 “Fighting Falcons” to Greenville annually for maintenance , but the government ended it early.

“To meet our customers’ needs for affordability in a cost-competitive environment, we made the difficult decision to conduct a limited reduction in force at our Greenville site. This decision was made with a great deal of consideration and careful evaluation, and we’re committed to supporting affected employees with outplacement services and career counseling,” according to a company statement.

Lockheed has operated in Greenville for more than 40 years, moving into the former Donaldson Air Force Base in 1984. As of last August, the company employed more than 1,800 people at its Upstate location.

While the Air Force contract is ending, Lockheed will continue to build F-16s for the international market. As of February, the company still had a backlog of 117 planes to produce, selling the military fighter jets to countries such as Bahrain, Bulgaria, Morocco, Slovakia and Taiwan.

As Lockheed dialed back F-16 production in 2019 and shifted its focus to other models, it moved the F-16 manufacturing line to Greenville as it continued to fill orders. In 2024, the company produced 16 of the aircraft, according to financial reports.

The Greenville facility also performs maintenance and upgrades on several of the company’s other models, including the C-130, P-3, KC-10, and C-9.