Irvine Telescope Maker to Move Jobs to Tijuana

Telescope and binocular maker Meade Instruments Corp. said Wednesday that it will move 40 light-assembly jobs to a factory it is building in Tijuana.

Meade said it expects few if any jobs will be lost among permanent employees at its Irvine headquarters, which employs about 350 people. Many current light assembly workers are temporary hires and others will be offered jobs elsewhere in the company, Chief Financial Officer Brent W. Christensen said.

Optical and mechanical components will continue to be manufactured in Irvine after the new plant opens in February. More sophisticated assembly jobs, testing and final inspection work also will remain in Irvine, at least at first. “We’ll take it judiciously down there,” Christensen said.

Labor savings from the move to Mexico are expected to increase profits next year, and the change also gives Meade room to expand, said the company’s president, Steven G. Murdock.

Meade’s telescopes are designed for both beginning and serious amateur astronomers. The company makes a complete line of binoculars.