The county’s 25 largest aerospace and defense contractors saw employment drop for the fifth-straight year amid production lulls and a military shift away from big ticket items.
The companies, which make parts for commercial and military planes and other products, saw a 5.4% employment cut to nearly 23,000 people for the 12 months through June, according to this week’s Business Journal list.
The list ranks companies based or operating here by number of local employees. Some entries are listed by their parent companies and segmented by subsidiaries operating here.
Boeing
No. 1 Chicago-based Boeing Co.—which has operations in Huntington Beach, Anaheim, Irvine, Seal Beach and Cypress—dominates the list with more than a third of the total employees.
Boeing employs about 8,000 people here, according to Business Journal estimates. That’s down about 12% from 9,100 a year ago and the company continues to trim jobs at a number of local divisions.
Without Boeing, the 24 other companies saw employment fall 1.4% to 14,865 workers for the 12 months through June.
Six of the companies with operations here cut employment while four added positions. Three were flat and 12 were Business Journal estimates.
Companywide employment—which includes workers outside the county—was roughly flat at 954,963 workers.
Boeing is Orange County’s fourth-largest employer and nearly all of its work here is for the military.
It has epitomized the defense industry’s shift away from big war equipment to stealth warfare—satellites, unmanned planes and other vehicles equipped with communications gear.
Earlier this month, Boeing announced plans to cut 100 jobs from its space exploration division in Huntington Beach as the space shuttle program comes to an end.
The Business Journal reported last month that Boeing’s Brigade Combat Team Modernization program—designed to upgrade Army communications in combat—is set to slash hundreds of positions nationwide through October.
The latest round is expected to come some time this summer as the Army shifts the focus of its communications program and reduces funding.
Boeing does not disclose employment figures for individual programs.
No. 2 Parker Aerospace in Irvine saw a 12.3% drop in employment to 1,578 people.
Parker’s local operation is part of Cleveland-based Parker Hannifin Corp.’s air and fuel division, which makes parts for fueling systems on jets.
The company’s been aggressive in trimming its workforce since the recession.
This year, Parker plans to hire 39 college graduates as part of a recruiting program, according to Robert Barker, the company’s executive vice president, operating officer and president.
No. 6 Lake Forest-based Panasonic Avionics Corp. added 166 employees to 1,188 people, up more than 16%.
The company, part of Japan’s Panasonic Corp., recently has landed some new contracts, including deals with Bahrain’s Gulf Air, Europe’s Airbus SAS and German carrier Lufthansa AG.
Stronger Airline Industry
No. 9 Irvine-based Thales Avionics Inc. added 25 employees in the last year, up nearly 4% to 700 people.
The in-flight entertainment maker is looking to capitalize on strong passenger traffic projections for the next few years, a trend that points to aircraft purchases to meet growing demand and replace older fleets.
Thales, part of France’s Thales Group, counts big clients in Asia, the Middle East and Europe among new and existing customers expanding their fleets, according to spokeswoman Lori Krans.
“The market outlook for in-flight entertainment systems is very positive, which requires Thales to hire engineers, operations and program management personnel,” she said.
No. 16 Ceradyne Inc. in Costa Mesa saw a nearly 7% drop to 453 employees.
Ceradyne, a maker of bulletproof vests and other products, has been working on a long-running diversification strategy on the heels of a boom in sales of its military armor during the peak of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan several years ago.
Armor sales for soldiers and vehicles now are about 40% of Ceradyne’s sales, down from nearly 70% a few years ago. The company is looking to subsidiaries and emerging businesses, such as the solar panel industry, for growth.
Download the 2011 OC’s LARGEST AEROSPACE & DEFENSE CONTRACTORS list (pdf)
