Orange County’s biggest employers grew their combined workforce by 1% in the past year, a modest but steady pace of growth for the fourth straight year.
This week’s Business Journal list highlights 79 companies that together employ 258,796 people in Orange County, an increase of 3,159 over the year.
The biggest employers account for about 17% of OC’s job base of approximately 1.5 million, according to the California Employment Development Department. Their combined job-growth rate lagged the local economy, which posted an increase of about 2% on employment over the past year.
This year’s employers list is our largest in recent years, thanks to increased research capacity amid an economy that’s generally growing and conducive to hiring. The threshold to be included was a minimum of 1,000 OC employees.
The entries combined for 8.9 million jobs companywide, about flat from a year earlier.
The list features a mix of companies with headquarters in Orange County and elsewhere, including a handful based overseas.
OC-based companies carried much of the overall employment growth. There are 36 of them, making up 46% of the list by number while accounting for 82% of the overall increase, with a combined gain of 2,586 employees.
Nos. 1,2
• The Walt Disney Co. remained at the top of the list, with 27,000 employees in Orange County, primarily at Disneyland, Disney California Adventure Park and hotels in the area.
The Burbank-based company increased its OC workforce by 1,000, or 4%, while boosting its companywide total by 9,000, or 5%, to 175,000.
“As we continue to invest in the Disneyland Resort, adding new guest experiences and entertainment, we’ve created new jobs and added an additional 1,000 cast members to the resort, demonstrating our ongoing commitment to business growth in Orange County,” said Betsy Sanchez, spokesperson for Disneyland Resort.
• University of California-Irvine stayed at No. 2, with 22,385 employees here, up by 132, or less than 1%. UC Irvine does not have employees outside of OC.
• Kaiser Permanente inched up a spot to No. 4, passing Boeing Co.
The Oakland-based health plan provider said it has 7,000 employees in Orange County after gaining 300 over the year. Companywide numbers fell, by about 1,250, to 174,415.
Kaiser is one of the five entries that made net hires in OC while cutting numbers overall. Others included No. 52, Toshiba Corp., which increased OC numbers by 15% to 1,745, and No. 59, Union Bank, which has 1,545 employees here, up 1%.
• Irvine-based memory products maker Western Digital Corp., No. 46, grew local employment by 300 to 1,900 over the past year. It cut its companywide total by 7,000 to 89,000. Western Digital is the biggest disk drive maker in the world in terms of units sold and revenue. It made a few acquisitions in 2013, including paying $340 million for Santa Ana-based sTec Inc. and $685 million for Milpitas-based Virident Systems Inc.
• Santa Ana-based First American Financial Corp. also had an increase in OC, by 8%, to 1,978, while its overall numbers fell by about 2% to a little more than 17,300. It ranked No. 45.
Biggest Percentage Jump
• Universal Services of America had the largest percentage increase in local employment, with a 33.3% jump to 3,600. The addition of 900 local employees pushed the Santa Ana-based security services firm up 16 spots to No. 20, the biggest jump on the list. The number of companywide employees was 45,000, up 64% year-over-year.
Employment gains came through “50% acquisitions and 50% organic means,” said Chief Executive Steve Jones.
“The security industry is a labor-intensive business,” he said. “We largely rely on training people to perform the job of protecting lives, assets and property. And, as we expand and grow, we will continue to add people.”
Universal Services also was one of the fastest-growing private companies ranked by the Business Journal in September. It had a two-year revenue growth of nearly 150% to $985 million for the year through June.
• No. 39, Edison International, had the biggest drop in OC employment, both by number and percentage. It cut its local workforce by 15%, or by 363 individuals, for a total of 2,092. The Rosemead-based utilities company cut its overall employee number by nearly 9% to 13,840.
Four entries had decreases in Orange County while notching increases overall.
Washington, D.C.-based Beckman Coulter Inc., No. 75, cut its OC total by 100 to 1,100, while increasing its overall employment by 1,000 to 11,000.
Foothill Ranch-based Oakley Inc. cut its OC employee base by about 2% to 2,219, while increasing its companywide total by 3% to 4,315. It ranked No. 38.
This year’s list includes four newcomers.
• Foothill Ranch-based mortgage lender loanDepot.com LLC made No. 74 with 1,109 workers in OC out of 3,000 overall. It recently announced the acquisition of Walpole, Mass.-based Mortgage Master Inc. and said the combined company’s total employee number will reach 3,700 when the deal closes next year.
LoanDepot funded about $8.4 billion worth of loans last year and is considered one of the largest nonbank retail lenders in the U.S.
President David Norris said the company funded about $1.3 billion in loans in October, a number that reflects a “growth path” through the year.
“We did about $900 million (a month) at the end of the first quarter, and we’ve grown from there,” Norris said.
• Denver-based Chipotle Mexican Grill grew past the 1,000 minimum mark over the past year, landing at No. 77 with 1,055 workers in OC. Companywide, the restaurant chain has 52,520 workers, up by nearly 8,000.
