OFFICIALS TRY TO LESSEN IMPACT OF LAYOFFS AT WEAPONS CENTER.Byline: David Greenberg The creator of this article, or someone who has substantially contributed to it, may have a conflict of interest regarding its subject matter. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Daily News Staff Writer The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division Noun 1. Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division - the principal agency of the United States Navy for research and development for air warfare and missile weapon systems NAWCWPNS will lose 245 of its 2,000 civilian positions as part of the Pentagon's continuing downsizing (1) Converting mainframe and mini-based systems to client/server LANs. (2) To reduce equipment and associated costs by switching to a less-expensive system. (jargon) downsizing effort designed to save billions of dollars. To minimize the number of actual layoffs, officials say, eligible scientists, engineers, technicians and other employees will be offered early retirement packages in early May. There also may be opportunities to transfer to other operations before the Nov. 19 deadline for the positions to be eliminated. ``We're trying everything we can to keep the actual number of people losing their (jobs) as low as possible,'' said Doris Lance, a spokeswoman for the division at Point Mugu. ``Change is difficult for everyone. But just like private enterprise, we're having to take these steps.'' The other bases in the weapons division - China Lake in Kern Kern, river, 155 mi (249 km) long, rising in the S Sierra Nevada Mts., E Calif., and flowing south, then southwest to a reservoir in the extreme southern part of the San Joaquin valley. The river has Isabella Dam as its chief facility. County and White Sands White Sands, uninhabited desert area, S central N.Mex. It is a center for U.S. military-weapons research and testing. On July 16, 1945, the first atomic bomb was exploded at Holloman Air Force Base (formerly Alamogordo Air Base). , N.M. - will lose 122 and eight positions, respectively. The few vacancies at those bases - positions not on the chopping chop 1 v. chopped, chop·ping, chops v.tr. 1. a. To cut by striking with a heavy sharp tool, such as an ax: chop wood. b. block - will be offered to Point Mugu civilians, officials said. Navy officials also hope that private firms that contract for such on-site assignments as missile systems testing and aircraft maintenance and repair, will hire Point Mugu employees. As a cost-saving measure, private firms since January 1997 have been able to bid on ``commercial activity'' jobs that otherwise would be assigned as·sign tr.v. as·signed, as·sign·ing, as·signs 1. To set apart for a particular purpose; designate: assigned a day for the inspection. 2. directly to civilian employees of Point Mugu. Some positions in growth areas are expected to be created in the future, however. One such area is ``battle space engineering,'' where data links connect planes, ships, ground bases and satellites. ``As we downsize Downsize Reducing the size of a company by eliminating workers and/or divisions within the company. Notes: When a company downsizes, it is attempting to find ways to improve efficiency and increase profitability. It is sometimes referred to as trimming the fat. , we're at the same time transitioning our skill mix to war-fighting needs of the 21st century,'' said Karen Higgins, executive director of the warfare center. ``Some of these (jobs) will be a net loss, but some will have different titles.'' To allow for a jump-start in job hunting, employees will be notified this week as to what positions are targeted for elimination. ``We realize this is a stressful time for everyone,'' Higgins said. The weapons division currently employs about 6,000 people, including 2,000 at Point Mugu. As recently as 1990, the three bases had jobs for 10,000 civilians. ``I'm saddened by the fact that we have any cuts at all,'' said Supervisor Frank Schillo. ``We need to be in a position of accepting new workloads. My fear is, are we going to have the personnel to perform the functions?'' |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion