TRW’s Credit Division Lays Off 70 in Orange, Anaheim : Cutback: Move comes as company, hit by criticism, tries to sort out its system. Fifty others nationally lose jobs.
TRW Inc.’s credit reporting division, which has its headquarters here, has laid off 70 of its 1,200 workers in Orange County, and 50 others nationwide.
Employees in the company’s Orange and Anaheim offices were given the bad news Thursday and Friday. Technical people and marketing specialists, including managers, were among those who lost their jobs.
The division employs 2,500 people nationally. Susan Murdy, a company spokeswoman, said the division laid off 15 people in Dallas and 35 among its sales staff throughout the country.
The layoffs come as TRW is trying to straighten out its credit reporting system. The company has been under intense criticism, including a lawsuit filed by the attorneys general in eight states last year, for allegedly shoddy practices that include mixing up information among the 170 million Americans in its database and failing to monitor the accuracy of files properly.
Murdy said the staff reduction is in line with the objective of increased efficiency. She said the division has just consolidated the credit reporting and marketing services units, and there were redundant jobs.
“It’s regrettable, naturally,” Murdy said, “but in the current business environment, it’s necessary.”
TRW Inc. is a diversified company that includes defense and automotive technology, as well as credit information services.
Two weeks ago, the Cleveland-based company reported a loss for the fourth quarter and all of 1991, but said it expects restructuring to bring improvement within 18 months.
The company reported a $231-million loss for the fourth quarter, in contrast with a $42-million profit a year earlier. TRW reported it lost $140 million in 1991.
In mid-October, the company’s Orange unit said it would begin offering free annual copies of credit reports to consumers in the spring, in a move aimed at placating criticism of its practices.
