Rockwell Plans 1,000 Layoffs

Citing unexpected cuts in its space business, Rockwell International Corp. said Tuesday that it would lay off as many as 1,000 employees in Downey and Seal Beach by spring, the latest job cuts in the hard-hit Southern California aerospace industry.

“We have encountered unexpected reductions in our NASA business,” said Robert G. Minor, president of the Seal Beach-based firm’s Space Systems Division. “In addition, many of our new business opportunities have been delayed due to government funding constraints.”

The cuts will include salaried and union hourly workers. Exact numbers are being assessed, the company said. The division employs 7,000 of Rockwell’s total of 27,000 Southern California employees.

The layoffs come as no surprise to analysts. Rockwell has previously indicated that space systems revenue would decline about $300 million by the end of the 1992 fiscal year, said Lawrence M. Harris, an industry analyst with Kemper Securities Group in Chicago.

“What’s happened is that space shuttle Endeavour was delivered last year to NASA, and while spare parts for an additional shuttle are being manufactured, no order has been given for construction of a new shuttle from those parts,” he said.

“The space shuttle program is the largest within Rockwell’s aerospace businesses, so any change in funding for it will undoubtedly affect employment,” he added.

Earlier, Rockwell said it would furlough 500 workers in Palmdale as work winds down on modifications to the space shuttle Columbia.