The county is clearly holding on to its spot as a major defense and aerospace center in California.
The latest Business News report, based primarily on estimates, shows the total number of OC employees among the 26 companies surveyed rose slightly to 21,099 this month from 21,027 a year earlier.
Huntington Beach-based Safran, which makes airplane cabin interiors, increased its local headcount 5% to 1,720.
“Headcount increased to follow the increase in market demand,” the local branch of the French aerospace giant told the Business Journal.
Boeing, Raytheon
Traditional No. 1 stalwart Boeing in Seal Beach kept its estimated OC headcount steady at 5,280 employees, and defense contractor RTX Corp. (NYSE:RTX) in Fullerton was stable at an estimated 2,000 local workers for second place.
Boeing was advertising for 44 jobs in Huntington Beach as of Aug. 7. They ranged from satellite and payload software engineers to applied physicist and firefighter.
Costa Mesa-based aerospace company Ducommun Inc., at the center of a major takeover battle, registered 109 local employees this month as opposed to 85 a year earlier, though there is a back story to the change.
“The change in our OC headcount is not necessarily true growth and is primarily due to consolidation we have done within our shared services team, moving their home offices from our LA county manufacturing plants to our corporate office in Orange County,” director of HR Shared Services Amy Urena said.
Ducommun President, Chairman and CEO Steve Oswald said in May he saw “continued strength in commercial aerospace at both Boeing and Airbus.”
Ducommun, which recently moved its headquarters from Santa Ana to Costa Mesa, on Aug. 8 released second-quarter earnings that showed a 5.2% net revenue increase to $197 million.
Anduril, Terran
The aerospace and defense ranks also include nimble newcomers seeking to break into the industry sector’s major leagues.
For example, defense company Anduril Industries in Costa Mesa tallied an estimated 888 local workers and growing.
“Now defense technology is cool. The war in Ukraine has made a bunch of people at least temporarily change their minds, which I intend to leverage to the fullest,” Anduril founder Palmer Luckey said on May 1.
Terran Orbital (NYSE: LLAP), which has the bulk of its operations in Irvine and aims to shake up the satellite industry hung on to an estimated 510 OC workers, the same as last year.
“By bringing more aspects of the manufacturing process in-house, we can become less reliant on external factors and ensure on-time delivery for our valued customers,” according to Terran co-founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Marc Bell.
Terran Orbital said July 25 it received the certificate of occupancy for its previously announced new assembly facility, located at 4 Goodyear in Irvine.
The facility spans 94,000 square feet and is situated on a five-acre site.
It will significantly increase Terran Orbital’s space vehicle assembly, integration and testing capabilities by over three times the company’s current capacity.
On the downside, defense and aerospace contractor L3Harris in Anaheim showed a 4% decline in Orange County employees to 850. L3Harris acquired Aerojet Rocketdyne in July 2023.
