North Island Depot Plans to Cut Civilian Work Force : Economy: Proposal calls for dropping one-fifth of 4,400 civilian workers. The depot is the Navy's largest civilian employer in San Diego.

North Island Depot Plans to Cut Civilian Work Force : Economy: Proposal calls for dropping one-fifth of 4,400 civilian workers. The depot is the Navy’s largest civilian employer in San Diego.

By NORA ZAMICHOW

May 30, 1991 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Keeping pace with a proposed reduced military force, officials with the Navy’s largest civilian employer in San Diego--the North Island Naval Aviation Depot--plan to cut their work force by one-fifth.

“Over the last two or three years, the defense establishment and the Navy have become smaller and we will become smaller with them,” said Mike Hammond, a spokesman for the facility. “If you look at what’s been going on in San Diego in the civilian sector, we are right in line with what’s been happening.”

The depot, one of six across the nation, employs 4,400 civilians with a $164-million annual payroll. The North Island facility also spent $33 million in mostly civilian local services and contracts for supplies, from computers to pencils, during the last fiscal year..

Under the “worst case scenario,” 825 mostly white-collar management and administrative positions would be axed, Hammond said. It is not yet clear how much money will be saved by eliminating the jobs, Hammond said.

The proposal must be reviewed by the Department of Defense before it can be implemented Sept. 30.

Capt. Charles Sapp, depot commander, circulated a memo among his staff last week suggesting they update their personnel files with information about new skills.

“We’re being very open with our employees--we want to give them every opportunity to look after their own interests,” Hammond said.

The cutbacks would be implemented in an effort “to streamline and improve efficiency of aviation depot operations,” Hammond said. The plan is intended to “lower the cost of depot maintenance, engineering and logistics services.”

Hammond said it is not known whether Navy officials would consider completely scrapping the aviation depot in favor of using civilian contractors.

Currently, there are two aviation depots on the West Coast, three on the East Coast, and one on the Gulf Coast. Each depot will be affected but the cuts will be shaped by the needs of the commands rather than an across-the-board formula, Hammond said.

At North Island, workers handle repairs on the F/A-18 Hornet, E-2C Hawkeye and C-2A Greyhound transport plane, Hammond said.