>> reporter: lockheed martin is is laying off 370 employees, other 300 are living ar voluntarily, taking early retirement to avoid getting cut themselves. the lvdefense contractor said e ra that the reductions ar te part of a plan to tra ail the organization and improve efficiency. fiemployees have until theee end of the year to leave the compleany. some economists say these layoffs could be the beginning of worse things to come and the e federal gove rnment cut defense e spinning and contractors like lockheed, may be forced to make deeper redi d yous down the line as a result. >> industries ndthat are dependent, in federal government expenditures are going to suffer serious cuts the next few years. the budget deficit is a serious issue, and that this where we're going. >> reg.porter : economistspo say we won't nee cessarily see an impact here locally from this round of layoffs, but if more utcuts do come down ind future, that could hurt the local economy. >> many employees are union workers. how is this effecting them? >> if th ere is any good news, it's that it's n ot affecting those employees. those positions were all spared and most of the union employees are hourly employees that work along an anassembly line and at all of the positions that were cut are salaried positions, such as administrators and engineers. karen? >> all right, melissa newton live for us in fort worry. thank you, melissa.