Camarillo Computer Firms to Lay Off 115

A total of 115 employees are being laid off by two Camarillo concerns involved in the computer industry.

In the larger layoff, 95 jobs are being eliminated due to the closure of Unisys Corp.’s commercial software unit in Camarillo. The unit is being combined with a similar operation in San Jose. In addition to those laid off, 15 workers are being transferred from Camarillo to San Jose.

Unisys’ defense-related computer division remains in Camarillo with 240 employees, reports company spokesman Joe Barrett.

Changes in technology are blamed for the layoff of 20 employees at Camarillo-based McLean Engineering, which produces cooling devices and other parts for large computer installations.

The laid-off workers were employed by McLean’s Contempo Engineering unit, which made room air-conditioners for mainframes and other computer systems. The systems are now produced with internal cooling devices, eliminating the need for placing them in a cool environment, said Wilford D. Godbold, president and chief executive of Zero Corp., McLean’s Los Angeles-based parent.

“We’re still very much involved in computer cooling through the production of internal units,” Godbold said. “We hope to rehire some of those who were laid off, either at McLean or at other Zero divisions.”