Orange County’s biggest employers grew their combined work force at the fastest rate in years.
This week’s Business Journal list highlights the 82 largest employers with headquarters or significant operations here, with a minimum of 1,000 local jobs required. The companies combined to add 8,717 jobs over the past year, a 3.4% increase for a total of 267,243.
Previous lists show the crop of the biggest employers here grew their work forces by 1% for three years straight after notching a 2.6% increase in 2011. The streak of modest annual growths followed two down years during and shortly after the recession.
This year’s list is the largest yet—there were 79 entries last year—thanks in part to ongoing economic strength, which set the stage for more hires (see related OC Insider item, page 3).
The 82 companies outpaced the county on job gains. OC’s overall employment numbers were up 2.7% year-over-year to 1,559,700 as of October, according to the state Employment Development Department.
Recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data show California jobs grew about 2.9% over the year for a total of about 16.3 million; U.S. numbers increased 2% to about 142.7 million.
The companies on the list also outpaced themselves when compared with the companywide total, combining to grow overall headcount by 2.3% to 9,316,946.
The list includes 35 entries that added jobs here, nine that reported they made no changes, and another nine that cut jobs. Numbers for the rest—29—were flat based on Business Journal estimates.
• Walt Disney Co. topped the list again with 29,000 local employees, up 7%, or by 2,000, over the past year. It’s the biggest raw-number increase on the list.
The Burbank-based company increased its companywide work force by nearly 3% during the same period for a total of 180,000.
“We look forward to creating even more jobs as we continue to expand the Disneyland Resort,” said Betsy Sanchez, spokesperson for the resort in Anaheim.
The Disneyland Resort is establishing its new Star Wars Land as part of an overall expansion that includes new attractions and infrastructure improvements.
• University of California-Irvine kept its No. 2 spot, adding 717 jobs for a total of 23,102. The 3% growth is the university’s biggest annual gain in recent years. It had been increasing headcount by an average of 2% over the past four years.
“About 250 positions are in UC Irvine Health and School of Medicine, which reflects clinical faculty hiring and personnel to meet increased demand for inpatient and outpatient services,” said spokesperson Cathy Lawhon.
Other areas of growth include faculty members and temporary workers “hired to accommodate spikes in workload and new projects,” she said.
CSUF, Universal Services
• California State University-Fullerton added about 600 employees, up 12% to 5,750. The increase pushed the school up three notches to No. 7.
• Santa Ana-based security services provider Universal Services of America jumped 10 spots to No. 8, with 5,500 employees here, an increase of 1,900, or 53%.
Its job growth was faster when considering all of its national operations; its companywide work force grew by 78% to 80,000.
Part of the growth is attributable to acquisitions. The company, which operates security, janitorial and emergency services, has acquired and integrated more than 50 businesses since 2010.
It’s grown to about $2.5 billion in annual revenue and has told the Business Journal it’s looking to go public via an initial public offering in the next couple of years.
LoanDepot
• Foothill Ranch-based LoanDepot Inc. recently did some prep work for an IPO, with plans to raise as much as $621 million and net about $450 million. The mortgage lender pulled the plug just before the offering, citing “market conditions.”
LoanDepot has 1,890 employees in OC, up 705, or 59%; that landed the company at No. 46, a 28-spot climb and the biggest year-over-year jump in rankings.
It has 5,011 employees companywide, up 66%.
Companies that have reduced their OC work forces over the past year include No. 39, Allergan PLC, the combined entity that resulted from Actavis PLC’s acquisition of Allergan Inc. last year. Allergan has been downsizing in waves since mid-2014 and over the past year has cut the number of jobs at its OC operations by about 15%, or by 380, to 2,085.
• Costa Mesa-based Experian, No. 68, also cut its OC work force. The North America unit of Dublin, Ireland-based Experian PLC has 1,300 employees here, down 7%. It increased its companywide total by 6% to 17,000.
Craig Boundy, chief executive of the North American operations, said the company is “actually growing our talent base across North America,” but “in Costa Mesa, we had been using more contract workers, so it may show a discrepancy in numbers between now and last year.”
Newcomer
• This year’s list has six newcomers, including Tustin-based Largo Concrete Inc. The structural concrete contractor debuted at No. 66 with 1,370 employees in OC, up by 495, or 57%. It has another 50 employees across four other offices.
Largo had about $217 million in 2014 revenue, which landed the company on the latest Business Journal list of the biggest private companies here, which was published in June.
• Advantage Sales & Marketing LLC in Irvine also was new to the list. It made No. 71 with 1,200 local employees, up by 399, or 50%, year-over-year. The company has 49,000 employees companywide, up by 32%.
“We’ve added some headcount in our national office in Irvine and also in our regional office in Anaheim, where we provide our core headquarter selling services for our [consumer packaged goods] clients at Southern California-based retailers,” said Brian Stevens, chief financial officer and chief operating officer. “In addition, we have field-based associates throughout Orange County. … Increases in these positions both in Orange County and throughout the country has primarily been due to new business won from competitors, as well as [to] the general trend of increased outsourcing by CPGs.”
