Hughes expects more employee cutbacks, but denies 2,000 are about to be laid off.Hughes Aircraft Hughes Aircraft Company was a major aerospace and defense company founded by Howard Hughes. The group was based near Ballona Creek, in Culver City, California, USA, on the Pacific Coast. Hughes Aircraft was acquired by General Motors in 1985. Co. will probably be forced to further reduce its Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County work force from its current level of about 30,000, a company spokesman said last week. At the same time, spokesman Richard Dore Richard Dore (1749-1800) was an attorney, deputy judge advocate and secretary to the governor of colony of New South Wales, Australia in the late 18th century. He was the second person to hold office as deputy judge advocate, a position akin to the position of chief justice in the said the company expects to hear in the next two months whether it will receive an exclusive long-term contract to continue production of the Mark 48, a submarine-launched torpedo torpedo, in naval warfare torpedo, in naval warfare, a self-propelled submarine projectile loaded with explosives, used for the destruction of enemy ships. Although there were attempts at subsurface warfare in the 16th and 17th cent. . Hughes currently shares production of the weapon with Westinghouse Electric Corp., based in Pittsburgh. Dore said he could not predict how many jobs could be cut at the company this year but he denied persistent rumors from local workers that Hughes is preparing to lay off 2,000 workers. "Right now there are no indications that there is going to be any kind of massive layoff, but I think it's pretty safe to assume that because of the defense cuts we will probably have to cut back, too," he said. Hughes, a subsidiary of General Motors Corp., has about 65,000 employees, with between 42,000 and 43,000 in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, . In 1989, Hughes eliminated more than 9,000 jobs, most of them in the Southland. In 1990, employment was relatively stable but last year the company reduced its work force by 3,500. Dore noted that in the past, Hughes has reduced its work force in incremental amounts rather than in large, one-time cuts. He said the company, which does electronics work for the military as well as other industries, is not facing any major losses under President Bush's proposed $281 billion Pentagon budget for fiscal year 1993 that starts on Oct. 1. Under the budget proposal, the B-2 stealth bomber would be canceled after 20 of the aircraft are produced. Hughes makes the radar system for the aircraft but Dore said if production is terminated at 20, Hughes would have enough work on the aircraft to continue for three or four years. He noted that while the B-2 could be canceled, funding for the Strategic Defense Initiative Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), U.S. government program responsible for research and development of a space-based system to defend the nation from attack by strategic ballistic missiles (see guided missile). , or "Star Wars," has been increased under the proposal. Hughes is a major contractor on the SDI (1) (Serial Digital Interface) A physical interface widely used for transmitting digital video in various formats. For electrical transmission, it uses a high grade of coaxial cable and a single BNC connector with Teflon insulation. project. For the past two months, local Hughes workers have been predicting a massive layoff at the company but Dore said the speculation may be connected to big job cuts that were announced last year at its facilities in Tucson. Hughes is based in the Westchester section of Los Angeles and has facilities throughout the South Bay area, as well as in Canoga Park. The Mark 48 torpedo For the machine gun, see . The Mark 48 torpedo and its improved ADCAP (Advanced Capability) variant are designed to sink fast, deep-diving nuclear-powered submarines and high-performance surface ships. is currently in production at the Hughes facility in Fullerton in Orange County and the contract for the weapon is expected to be renewed sometime in the next two months. Dan Reeder Dan Reeder is an American NFL running back who most recently played for the Pittsburgh Steelers. "Delaware Dan" Reeder attended the University of Delaware and was drafted in the fifth round of the 1985 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Raiders. , a Hughes spokesman in Fullerton, said the Navy has indicated that shared contracts for the torpedo project will probably be discontinued, which means the company could be the sole contractor for the program. Currently, Hughes and Westinghouse share production of the torpedo. Reeder said the renewed contract could be for three years and would be worth several hundred million dollars. |
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