Beckman Instruments to Trim 48 Jobs at Fullerton Facility

Beckman Instruments Inc. said Wednesday that it again is trimming the work force at its Fullerton headquarters--this time by 48 jobs, including 33 layoffs--in a move designed to cut costs and realign the company’s support services structure.

The company, a division of SmithKline Beckman Corp., already has laid off 144 workers in Orange County this year and has cut about 1,000 jobs from its county payroll since Beckman merged with Philadelphia-based SmithKline in 1982.

The new layoffs at Beckman Instruments will involve 27 employees in the company’s central support services and six workers at the central fabrication facility, said Robert Crittendon, Beckman’s director of communications.

The layoffs represent “adjustment and belt tightening in every major corporate department, including finance, personnel, facilities operations and legal,” he said. Management, professional and clerical jobs are affected, Crittendon said.

The cutback involves 15 jobs that will be eliminated through retirements, transfers and deferrals of budgeted but unfilled positions. It follows a 53-worker layoff last month from Beckman’s Scientific Instruments Division in Fullerton.

Beckman now employs 7,000 workers worldwide.