TRW Lays Off 23 in Orange, Raising Concern of City Officials : Adjustment: Affected workers had thought their jobs secure in light of company’s rent-subsidy agreement with the city.

By the standards of the lingering recession, in which thousands of jobs have been lost in Orange County, the layoff of 23 employees at TRW’s credit-reporting division headquarters in Orange a couple of weeks ago was barely a blip on economists’ charts.

But to the workers who learned on Sept. 21 that their jobs were being eliminated, the news was a shock.

Less than a week earlier, the Orange City Council, acting as the Redevelopment Agency, had unanimously granted TRW rent subsidies of $100,000 annually over the next 10 years in return for the company’s commitment to keep at least 750 employees in the city for each year of the agreement. The subsidy, which increases by $400 for each additional employee until TRW’s work force totals 1,000, is part of a package of incentives to the company to remain in Orange and keep jobs here.

Even though TRW now employs about 1,100 people in its Orange operation, some city government officials are expressing concern.

“The perception is when we entered into this agreement that we were saving jobs,” Orange Councilwoman Joanne Coontz said. “I would hope TRW would let us know and not wait for an audit on the number of employees so we can understand what their direction is.”

The agreement with the city was concluded four months after D. Van Skilling, the TRW division’s general manager, said in a speech to employees that the company would remain in the city. During that time, the laid-off employees said, they felt that their positions were secure.

But the pact does not specify that TRW cannot lay off any employees or transfer any jobs.

In letting the 23 go, the company cited a decision to shift some telephone sales and customer-service operations to an office in Illinois.

“I feel betrayed by the company itself,” said Kathy Perry, who had worked for TRW for 18 years. “It’s kind of ironic they say they want to keep jobs in Orange.”

Pat Richardson, a customer support representative with TRW for almost nine years, asked, “What kind of commitment are they making to keeping jobs in Orange if they just moved 23 of them to Chicago?”

Since the negotiations with Orange first become public, TRW has eliminated the positions of about 35 employees as part of a streamlining process, TRW spokeswoman Susan Murdy said.

“I would say there’s no connection between the business operations and the deal with Orange. If the employee base drops below a certain amount, we will not get the base, and we have certainly not dropped below that number,” Murdy said. “We are not planning any major layoffs in the near future.”

One Orange councilman defended TRW’s action.

“I think it would be unrealistic in this recession not to expect a major company like TRW to make adjustments in its work force,” William G. Steiner said. “I assume the decisions for the layoffs were made over a long time and the timing was probably coincidental. I have heard nothing to indicate that (TRW) is not going to meet its commitments to Orange.”

TRW has offered the former employees the option of applying for other positions within the company--including any jobs that become available in Illinois--but will not guarantee anyone a position.

Richardson has applied for another job within TRW’s Orange operation but says she isn’t optimistic about her chances--the latest layoff was her second this year. In February, she was one of four employees let go during a consolidation of the marketing services department. She was rehired in May.

“I thought I would be safer in sales,” Richardson said. “That was not the case.”