Cutbacks spur changes in top employers' ranking; other industries close in on aerospace as biggest employer.

Three aerospace companies remain the top private-sector employers in Los Angeles County, despite major layoffs, while other defense contractors have dropped dramatically on The List. Meanwhile, the total number of jobs provided by L.A.'s biggest employers has fallen by more than 100,000 over the past five years. Hughes Aircraft Co., which was ranked second on The List in 1990 (the last time this List was published), is now ranked as the largest private-sector employer in L.A. County, despite having cut its local job rolls in half -- from 56,000 in 1989 to an estimated 25,000 today.

The company that had the most L.A. County employees in 1990 -- Douglas Aircraft Co., at 42,000 -- dropped to third place this year with 22,980 local employees. Rockwell International Corp. fell from No. 4 on The List in 1989, with 21,021 employees, to No. 8 this year with 12,800.

TRW Space & Electronics Group had 18,000 employees in 1989 and was ranked No. 5. This year, it is ranked No. 11 with 9,061 jobs.

Lockheed Corp. was ranked No. 9 in 1989, with 15,100 employees in the county, and No. 7 in 1990 with 16,000 employees. Today, it is ranked No. 18 with an estimated 6,000 employees.

The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. has predicted that the aerospace industry will lose another 30,000 jobs here this year, and another 26,000 in 1995. The UCLA Business Forecasting Project forecasts 80,000 more aerospace job losses in California by the year 2000.

If the trend in defense layoffs does indeed continue, aerospace firms may soon be replaced as the top L.A. employers by health care companies, universities, grocers, utilities and media firms.

The only big L.A. County employer that has added to its employee ranks in the past few years is Bank of America, which absorbed Security Pacific Bank in a 1992 merger and thereby increased its number of local workers from 12,660 in 1989 to 14,453 this year.

However, in 1990, Security Pacific employed 12,400 people (down from 13,700 in 1989), and those jobs no longer exist. Adding the two banks' numbers together in 1990, they jointly had a net job loss in four years of 9,938 L.A. County positions.

Not all the job losses at the two banks were due to the merger, however. Some L.A. County jobs at BofA and Security Pacific moved to other counties and states, and both banks divested themselves of certain divisions that continue to exist, but under other company names.

Bank of America moved up from No. 13 on The List in both 1989 and 1990 to Nov. 6 this year.

Because of the large number of job losses at many of the county's largest employers, companies that merely held onto their pre-existing employee base moved up on The List.

Vons Cos., for example, moved up from being ranked No. 10 in 1989 with 15,000 employees to No. 7 this year with 14,003 employees.

Southern California Edison moved up from No. 17 on the 1989 List with 8,600 employees to No. 12 this year with 8,611 employees.

The total number of local jobs on the 1989 List was 40 percent higher than today's total of 260,624. Five years ago, the top 25 private-sector employers on The List employed 364,820 people.

Some industries that are expected to show job growth in L.A. County in 1994 include international trade and service industries, such as entertainment, accounting, law, engineering and temporary agencies.