At Northrop, Optimism and Fear
Aerospace workers are a hardy breed, and those at Northrop Grumman, who survived the defense industry decline of the last decade, were mostly upbeat Thursday in the aftermath of learning that their company would be acquired by Lockheed Martin.
Some of Northrop’s nearly 47,000 employees--more than 13,000 are in Southern California--were encouraged by corporate statements that there will be few layoffs. Many workers hold company stock and were excited about its sharp rise on Thursday.
But for the most part, the workers were resigned to going through yet another twist in the convoluted story of their company, which began 58 years ago in a Hawthorne hotel as Northrop Aircraft.
“It will make us a stronger company,” said Steve Ohlsen, a 17-year Northrop engineer on his lunch break outside the company’s Hawthorne plant. “We knew that this company wasn’t big enough to survive on its own.”
But news that the company would be acquired caught many by surprise. They had thought Northrop would continue its buying ways--Northrop’s purchases include Grumman in 1994 for $2 billion--rather than becoming a target itself.
At one point, corporate quipsters joked that if Northrop Grumman bought Rockwell, the company could shorten its name to “Norman Rockwell.” But Rockwell was one that got away; Boeing bought Rockwell’s defense and aerospace operations last year.
Carl Dishman has worked for Northrop for 25 years at four sites and soon will be moving to Rolling Meadows, Ill., when his division does. “I’ve pretty well gotten used to transition and downsizing,” said Dishman, a quality assurance technical advisor. “And if Lockheed Martin wants me to go somewhere else, I’ll go there.”
The merger with Lockheed “sounds good,” said Norse Gaines, a major subcontracting specialist with Northrop in Hawthorne. “You always want to be part of a winner.”
Not surprisingly, future employment was the primary concern, despite assurances by Lockheed Martin Chairman Norman Augustine that neither Lockheed nor Northrop expects to eliminate any jobs as a result of the merger.
“I was surprised and scared” to hear of the proposed merger, said Peggy Permenter, an administrative contracts representative who works at Northrop’s Electronic Sensors and Systems Division in Baltimore. The division was purchased just 16 months ago from Westinghouse Electronic Systems. “I’ve survived about six layoffs here, but it gets a little disconcerting when you hear it’s Lockheed Martin, because they have a reputation of being brutal.”
A Northrop security guard in Palmdale who gave only a first name, Amaru, said he is worried.
“They tell us we are nonproductive overhead because we don’t work on the planes,” he said. “Security is something that can be outsourced.”
“Time will tell,” said Evelyn Wilson, a Northrop employee in Hawthorne.
The best part of the Thursday’s doings was the increase in the price of Northrop’s stock, which most employees own as part of their retirement plans. Northrop stock rocketed $21.125 per share to close at $110 on the New York Stock Exchange. Lockheed Martin slipped $4.875 to $99.125.
Jill Leovy in the San Fernando Valley, Julia Scheeres in Ventura and the Baltimore Sun contributed to this report.
