Northrop Corp. to Lay Off 400 Employees in Anaheim at Electro-Mechanical Unit

Northrop Corp. said Friday that it will lay off 400 employees at its Anaheim Electro-Mechanical division by the end of the year.

The 16% reduction in the division’s work force comes on the heels of a $30.5-million third-quarter loss for the Century City-based aerospace firm and layoffs at its Hawthorne facility.

While the reduction had been in the planning for some time, the actual number of employees to be laid off was not determined until Friday, said Tony Cantafio, a Northrop spokesman.

The division, which now employs 2,500 workers, manufactures sensors, infrared systems and other equipment for missiles and other military hardware.

Cantafio blamed the layoffs on the “slowdown of several programs” and the completion of a contract for test equipment related to the Navy’s Trident II submarine program.

He said the cuts will “be across the board” and will include engineers and production workers.

Northrop will attempt to relocate “as many affected employees as possible” to other divisions within the firm as well as with other companies, Cantafio added.

Last week, the company said it would lay off 350 workers at its electronics division in Hawthorne, an action that affected about 7% of the work force there. The Hawthorne division is heavily involved in work on the MX missile.

Northrop has about 44,000 employees, of which 32,000 are based in Southern California.

On Tuesday, Northrop reported a $30.5-million net loss for the third quarter, the result of a $90-million write-off apparently related to its top-secret Stealth bomber program. The loss, which is believed to the largest in Northrop’s history, came on sales of $1.26 billion, a 4% increase for the year.