Lockheed Martin Plans 6,000 Jobs

NATIONWIDE — Lockheed Martin says it plans to create 6,000 jobs across the United States, including 2,000 in Texas, as it builds out missile and munitions production. The announcement is tied to a $300 million expansion of its Grand Prairie, Texas, plant, and it lands on top of a separate plan to add up to 1,250 space jobs in Colorado.

Lockheed Martin plans to create 6,000 U.S. jobs, 2,000 of them in Texas, but it has not published a hiring timeline, so the smart move now is to get your resume in front of its careers site and watch for postings in the markets where it already operates.

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📍 At a Glance

Company	Lockheed Martin
What it announced	Plans to create 6,000 U.S. jobs, including 2,000 in Texas (October 14, 2026)
Anchor investment	$300 million at its Grand Prairie, Texas, missiles plant
Hiring timeline	Not stated in the company's release
Separate Colorado plan	Up to 1,250 jobs at Lockheed Martin Space sites in Douglas and Jefferson counties
How to apply	Lockheed Martin's own job search

🔥 What Lockheed Martin Announced

In a news release dated October 14, 2026, Lockheed Martin said it "announced plans to create 6,000 jobs across the United States including 2,000 in Texas." Note the verb. These are planned jobs, not 6,000 open postings today, and the release does not say over what period they will be created or which job titles they will be.

The centerpiece is the company's Grand Prairie operation, home of its Missiles and Fire Control business, which sits between Dallas and Fort Worth. Lockheed Martin said it is investing $300 million there. The plant is growing to more than 735,000 square feet, adding about 100,000 square feet of new space and converting about 85,000 square feet of former offices into manufacturing floor.

The workforce numbers in the release give a sense of scale. Nearly 800 production employees work at Grand Prairie now, and the plant made 250,000 parts in 2025. The company expects to add nearly 100 new advanced machines there by the end of 2026. A 24-machine automated machining cell built with manufacturing partner Hadrian is expected to start running in early 2027, and the release says Lockheed Martin's own production workforce will operate it.

Grand Prairie supplies parts to final-assembly sites in Camden, Arkansas, and Troy, Alabama. Programs named in the release include the PAC-3 MSE and THAAD interceptors and the PrSM missile. The company also said it plans to invest roughly $8 billion to $9 billion through 2030 and to modernize or expand more than 20 U.S. facilities, which is why the 6,000 figure is national rather than a Texas-only number.

🛰️ The Colorado Space Jobs Are a Separate Announcement

On October 8, a Lockheed Martin Space executive told a Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce event that the company will add up to 1,250 jobs at its Colorado operations, the Denver Gazette reported. About 450 are planned for the Highlands Ranch site in Douglas County over the next four years, with most of the rest expected at the Waterton Canyon campus in Jefferson County. The roles named were cybersecurity engineers, software engineers, technicians and administrative staff.

Lockheed Martin has not said whether the Colorado jobs count toward the 6,000. Treat them as two separate plans.

💼 The Jobs Behind a Missile Expansion

A munitions build-out runs on the factory floor as much as the engineering office. Lockheed Martin's own Texas careers page describes Grand Prairie as hiring engineers, technicians and manufacturing specialists. The roles that usually staff that kind of work:

CNC machinists and machine operators. They set up and run the cutting machines that turn metal stock into precision parts. The new machines at Grand Prairie are exactly this kind of equipment.
Assemblers. Electronics and electromechanical assemblers build the wiring, circuit cards and subassemblies; aircraft and missile structure assemblers fit larger components together.
Aerospace and manufacturing technicians. They test, calibrate and troubleshoot systems, often with an associate degree or military training behind them.
Quality inspectors. Defense parts are measured and documented at every step.
Engineers and software staff. Manufacturing, systems, test and software engineers, plus the cybersecurity roles named in Colorado.

💵 What These Jobs Pay Nationally

Lockheed Martin did not publish pay ranges with the announcement. As a market benchmark, here are national medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for May 2025. A median is the midpoint: half the workers in each job earned less, and pay at a specific site will differ.

Electrical and electronic assemblers	$45,850 a year
Machinists	$58,750 a year
Aircraft structure and systems assemblers	$65,380 a year
Aerospace engineering and operations technologists and technicians	$82,890 a year ($94,910 in aerospace product and parts manufacturing)
Aerospace engineers	$134,960 a year

BLS says machinists typically need a high school diploma and learn through long-term on-the-job training or employer-sponsored apprenticeships. Aerospace technicians typically start with an associate degree. Lockheed Martin runs at least one apprenticeship of its own: its Huntsville careers page describes an Advanced Manufacturing Technician Apprenticeship Program at its Courtland, Alabama, production site.

⚠️ Read This Before You Apply

Clearances and citizenship. BLS notes that workers on national defense projects may need a security clearance, and some clearance types and levels require U.S. citizenship. Each Lockheed Martin posting spells out its own requirement, so read it before you apply.
No dates yet. The release gives no hiring schedule. Some of this growth will show up as postings over months and years, not this week.
Apply only through the company. Lockheed Martin's careers page warns that it recruits through its own talent acquisition team and tells applicants not to respond to unsolicited contacts asking for personal information.
This is not seasonal work. It is a production expansion, not a holiday hiring push, and it is concentrated in specific plants rather than spread across every city.

🔎 Where to Aim Right Now

If you machine, assemble, inspect or test for a living, defense manufacturing is a strong place to point your search this fall. Start with Lockheed Martin itself, then widen to the same job titles at other aerospace and precision manufacturers near you.

Start here:

🗺️ Where to Look in Your City

These markets sit near sites Lockheed Martin names on its own careers pages, led by the Dallas–Fort Worth area around Grand Prairie and the Colorado space campuses.

Not on the list? Find your city.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Lockheed Martin hiring 6,000 people right now?

No. The company announced plans to create 6,000 U.S. jobs, including 2,000 in Texas. It did not give a timeline, so expect postings to appear over time rather than all at once.

Where are the new Texas jobs?

The $300 million investment is at Grand Prairie, between Dallas and Fort Worth. The release says 2,000 of the planned jobs are in Texas but does not split them by site.

Do I need a security clearance to work there?

Some roles require one and some do not. BLS notes that certain clearance types and levels require U.S. citizenship. Each posting lists its own requirements.

Can I get in without a degree?

Many production roles, such as machinist and assembler, typically require a high school diploma plus on-the-job training, according to BLS. Engineering roles generally require a bachelor's degree.

Are the 1,250 Colorado jobs part of the 6,000?

Lockheed Martin has not said. The Colorado plan was announced separately on October 8 and covers Lockheed Martin Space sites in Douglas and Jefferson counties.

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Lockheed Martin Plans 6,000 U.S. Jobs: Where They Are and How to Get Ready