Northrop Grumman announced Monday it plans to move 850 jobs off Long Island, relocating workers to Florida and California, as it seeks to consolidate its centers of design and integration excellence in support of its Aerospace Systems sector’s manned aircraft, unmanned systems and electronic attack businesses.
“Consolidating these centers of excellence will improve our strategic alignment with our customers’ need for increasingly innovative and affordable products, services and solutions,” said Wes Bush, chairman, chief executive officer and president of Northrop Grumman. “We continuously examine our operational capacity to determine how we can leverage it in the most efficient and cost-competitive manner. Given the current budget environment, it is imperative that we act to enhance future performance, innovation and affordability for our customers.”
The Manned Aircraft Design Center of Excellence will be located in Melbourne, Florida and will include aircraft design work currently being performed at the company’s Bethpage, New York facility.
Northrop Grumman’s consolidation comes on the heels of declining Pentagon budgets, including the automatic government spending budget cuts or sequestration that took effect on March 1st.
The company has designated two Aircraft Integration Centers of Excellence, one in Palmdale, Calif., and the other in St. Augustine, Fla. Current integration activities in Moss Point, Miss., and New Town, N.D., are not included in this transition.
It is unclear precisely how many new jobs will open up in Melbourne, but the company plans to complete the consolidation by sometime next year.
