General Dynamics will furlough 2,000 Southland workers; Lockheed Corp. cuts 800.

General Dynamics will furlough 2,000 Southland workers

Lockheed Corp. cuts 800

General Dynamics became the latest defense contractor to announce major layoffs in Southern California when it said last week it will reduce its workforce at Pomona and Rancho Cucamonga manufacturing plants by up to 2,000.

General Dynamics, based in St. Louis, blamed the layoffs on declining federal defense spending and recent changes in the Pentagon's policy on military contracts.

Meanwhile, Calabasas-based Lockheed Corp. said it has sent layoff notices to between 800 and 900 workers at Los Angeles-area facilities who will lose their jobs as a result of the Navy's recent cancellation of the company's contract to build P-7A anti-submarine aircraft.

Company spokesman James Ragsdale said many of the layoffs -- announced last month -- will be effective this week. According to Ragsdale, several hundred engineers and administrative and supervisory personnel involved in development of the aircraft will lose their jobs.

Workers at Lockheed's Burbank, Santa Clarita and Palmdale facilities will be affected by the layoffs. About 100 workers in Lockheed's Marietta, Ga. facility will also lose their jobs because the contract was canceled, Ragsdale said.

Including the new layoffs, Lockheed expects to cut its Los Angeles County workforce by about 3,500 by the end of the year, said Ragsdale. Lockheed employs about 12,600 county residents.

The Navy said it canceled the $600 million contract because of Lockheed's failure to make adequate progress on development and production of the aircraft. Lockheed, which is appealing the decision, has blamed the Navy for production problems, saying it changed the design specifications after Lockheed had already started work based on the original specifications.

General Dynamics said the layoffs will be spread out over the next 18 months at the two facilities that produce tactical missiles. General Dynamics currently employs about 7,500 workers in Pomona and Rancho Cucamonga.

The company said it has no plans to close the two facilities, which were expanded during the heavy defense spending of the 1980s.

"We very much regret that layoffs will be necessary, and we will try to cushion the impact by providing career consulting and placement assistance services to affected employees," said Michael Keel, a General Dynamics executive.

General Dynamics spokesman James Gilkerson said operations at Pomona and Rancho Cucamonga will be combined but neither facility will be closed. He said part of the reason for the layoffs is new Pentagon rules that award more than one defense contractor work on the same project.

In addition, he said the company projects declining federal expenditures for defense.

The layoffs will affect all levels of workers at the two facilities, Gilkerson said.

McDonnell Douglas has said it will cut 8,000 jobs at its Long Beach facility this year and Century City-based Northrop Corp. said about 3,000 of its workers will lose their jobs because of cuts in defense spending. Last year, another Los Angeles-area defense contractor, Hughes Aircraft, eliminated about 9,000 jobs.

Some defense industry analysts have predicted that up to 40,000 workers may lose their jobs at Southern California aerospace companies during the next two years because of defense spending cuts.