Two Northrop Units Combine; 500 Jobs Cut
Northrop Corp. merged its Orange County plant with its division in Hawthorne on Tuesday, a move that will eliminate about 500 jobs within the next year, company officials said.
“The exact means of the reduction, whether layoffs, or attrition, or some combination of those, is under review,” said company spokeswoman Maria Oharenko. “I have no idea whether Anaheim or Hawthorne will be most impacted.”
The company alerted employees in October that it was studying a possible merger, examining whether the electro-mechanical division in Anaheim and the electronics division in Hawthorne were compatible and could be combined to streamline operations and improve productivity.
The aerospace giant said in a prepared statement Tuesday that the reorganization of its $1-billion electronics business entailed “streamlining the management structure and providing for closer technical interchange between its electronics and aircraft activities.”
The merged divisions will be based in Hawthorne and will operate under a relatively simple name for an aerospace unit: the Electronics Systems Division. The division will design and manufacture navigation and guidance systems and advanced sensors for aircraft, helicopters and missiles. Both the Anaheim and Hawthorne plants will remain in operation.
Oharenko said that the reorganization and the layoffs were not caused by “a contract loss or another customer action.”
“Aircraft not only fly, but they have complex electronics in them,” Oharenko said. The reorganization follows a trend toward “continuing integration of electronics and aircraft systems within the defense industry.”
The Anaheim operation employs about 2,000 workers and manufactures electronic sensing and optical devices. The Hawthorne division employs just under 3,000 and specializes in navigation and guidance equipment.
Operating profits from Northrop’s various electronics divisions dropped to $38.7 million last year from the $70 million reported in 1987. Contract acquisitions also fell during 1988 to $812.8 million from $1.1 billion.
