China’s continued expansion on the world stage and a strong year for hiring among Orange County’s largest foreign-owned companies combined to bring a jump in overall employment in the category here.
The 40 largest foreign-owned companies here in the past year added 1,688 local jobs for 34,058 workers here, up 5.2%.
The list is based on OC employment totals, with a minimum of 200 workers here needed to qualify.
A group of 36 companies qualified for the list a year earlier, combining for an increase of 1.5% on local employment.
Two of the newcomers are China-based companies involved in major acquisitions—separate deals for Irvine-based Ingram Micro Inc. and Karma Automotive Inc. in Costa Mesa. Both companies had been in the hands of U.S.-based ownership before buyers from China bought them.
The deals mark the first time any company based in China has qualified for the Business Journal’s annual list of foreign-owned enterprises.
Ingram, Karma and nine other companies on the list added jobs over the past year, three were down, and one was flat. Twenty-five companies did not provide enough information for a yearly comparison.
The segment represents a cross-section of industries, from in-flight entertainment providers and telecoms to apparel and automakers.
• Lake Forest-based Panasonic Avionics Corp., which makes IFE and communications systems, strengthened its hold on the No. 1 spot, doubling local employment to 4,600 people in the last year or so. The Panasonic Corp. of North America unit accounts for more than $1 billion in annual sales for Tokyo-based parent Panasonic Corp. It signed several deals with new and existing customers in the past year, including Boeing, Swiss International Air Lines, China Telecom Satellite and Virgin Atlantic.
• No. 5 Broadcom Ltd., a newcomer to the list, had an estimated 1,630 workers, down from an estimated 2,400 positions a year ago. That latest figure is likely an underestimate, considering the chipmaker sold two significant business lines since Broadcom Corp.’s $37 billion sale a year ago to Singapore-based Avago Technologies Inc., which renamed the combined entity and established its U.S. headquarters in San Jose.
Singapore, an influential island nation with a strong manufacturing sector, has a population that’s about three-quarters ethnic Chinese.
The cuts, first reported by the Business Journal, amount to a third of Broadcom’s local operation, a figure that could grow as the company explores the sale of buildings under construction at its new campus at Great Park Neighborhoods.
The local office of real estate investment and development firm Hines Interests LP has emerged as the likely buyer.
• No. 14, Irvine-based Ingram Micro, another newcomer to the list, added 61 jobs to 900 positions, up 7.2%. The world’s largest distributor of technology products, with sales of $43 billion in 2015, was sold in December for $6 billion to conglomerate Tianjin Tianhai Investment Company Ltd.
The unit of HNA Group, a Hainan, China-based Fortune Global 500 company with major operations in aviation, tourism and logistics, plans to keep its Park Place headquarters, and Chief Executive Alain Monié is expected to maintain his role.
• Tustin-based medical device maker MicroVention Inc. moved down two spots to No. 16, despite adding 90 employees to 890 workers, up 11.2% from a year earlier.
The company, which makes coils and other devices for treating strokes and brain blood vessel disease, has research and development, and production operations here. MicroVention expanded its portfolio of neurovascular products last year after Japan-based parent Terumo Corp. acquired Aliso Viejo-based Sequent Medical Corp. for $280 million.
“These innovations have created additional opportunities within our existing programs, but they have also created new roles within the organization that have led to our consistent growth throughout the year,” said Doug Fauth, MicroVention’s senior manager of talent acquisition.
The company is scheduled to move into a new 205,000-square-foot headquarters in Aliso Viejo this year.
• Costa Mesa-based Karma Automotive LLC debuts on the list at No. 23 with 516 employees, up 47% from a year earlier. The company was known as Fisker Automotive and Technology Group LLC before Wanxiang Group Corp.—one of the largest auto parts makers in China—bought it in a 2014 bankruptcy court auction for $149 million in cash.
Production on the $130,000 Revero sports car at a plant in Moreno Valley fueled the hiring push, as well as filling several corporate roles, according to Vice President Human Resources Rod Hanks.
“Karma HQ in Costa Mesa filled numerous staffing requirements in the areas of design engineering, engineering support, program management, supply chain, manufacturing, manufacturing engineering, marketing, sales, service and administrative support to address the launch of the Revero and subsequent vehicle programs associated with our business plans,” he said.
• Mazda, a unit of Japan-based Mazda Motor Corp., moved down four spots to No. 25 after shedding 47 positions to 439 workers, down 9.7%. The automaker initiated a restructuring last year to streamline operations, and about 100 employees across the company opted for voluntary separation packages, according to spokesperson Carley Hummel.
• Mitsubishi Electric US Holdings in Cypress, part of Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Electric Corp., debuted on the list at No. 40 with 213 workers, up 9.2% from a year ago.
“What’s driven growth is the active construction market that’s going on in Southern California, both in Los Angeles and Orange County,” said Executive Vice President Mike Corbo. “Our building technology products, specifically elevators and escalators, HVAC systems and solar products, have all experienced significant growth over the last 12 months.”
• Irvine-based Vizio Inc., one of OC’s largest private companies with $3.5 billion in annual sales, was expected to be another newcomer to the list this year. The company, which employs 228 local workers, agreed to a $2 billion sale in late July to Chinese conglomerate LeEco. The transaction was set to close late last year but hasn’t received the final approval from Chinese regulators, indicating a potential wrinkle in the deal amid rising tension in U.S.-China business relations as Donald Trump begins his presidency.
