Northrop to Shift 400 Employees From Anaheim to Hawthorne Facility

Northrop will transfer 400 engineers and support staff from its Anaheim facility to its Hawthorne plant as part of a previously announced consolidation, a company spokeswoman said Wednesday.

The big aerospace firm is also considering moving some of Anaheim’s manufacturing work to Hawthorne, Maria Oharenko said.

“We do not have definite plans as to which manufacturing operations will remain in Anaheim, so there are no estimates as to how many manufacturing and related activities will be consolidated in Hawthorne,” she said.

Last month, when it announced the merger of its electromechanical division in Anaheim with its electronics division in Hawthorne, Northrop said 500 jobs would be eliminated. The company hopes to avert many of the layoffs through transfers like that announced Wednesday and through attrition, Oharenko said.

The merged division is based in Hawthorne and is called the Electronics Systems Division. The division designs and manufactures navigation and guidance systems and advanced sensors for aircraft, helicopters and missiles.

Northrop has about 2,000 employees in Anaheim and 3,000 in Hawthorne.

“Current streamlining plans call for consolidating all Northrop Electronic Systems Division engineering in Hawthorne,” Oharenko said. “Manufacturing operations will continue in Anaheim for specific product lines.”

There are about 400 engineers, plus support staff, at the Anaheim facility. Some engineers may remain in Orange County and work with manufacturing and administrative staff.

Details of the transfers have not been worked out, and Oharenko said it has not been determined when they will occur.