Emerson Announces Layoffs

As part of a consolidation with a recently acquired sister company, Emerson Computer Power, a maker of power supply equipment, began laying off 100 of its 580 employees in the past month, the company confirmed Monday.

Emerson Computer Power, a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Emerson Electric Co., makes uninterruptible power supplies, or devices that protect electronic equipment from sudden power surges or power outages. The unit has been located in Santa Ana since 1963.

“The 100 layoffs relate to a reorganization combining field management, inside sales and administrative staff with the Liebert division in Columbus, Ohio,” said Jim Orso, a spokesman for Emerson Electric in St. Louis. “The employees were informed in March and (the layoffs) will be completed by mid-May.”

Emerson Electric, a $7.1-billion diversified electronic-components firm, bought Liebert Corp., maker of computer cooling systems, in 1987.

In the consolidation, part of the computer power division has been transferred to the parent company’s industrial controls division in Grand Island, N.Y., and a manufacturing line has been moved to another Emerson Computer unit in Irvine.