Hughes Cuts 200 Workers; Lost Bids Cited

Hughes Aircraft Co.’s Ground Systems Group, one of the largest employers in Orange County, has cut 200 employees from its payroll during the past month in an effort to boost profitability, a spokesman for the Fullerton-based unit said Thursday.

Two-week notices have been given to both professional and clerical workers, and company spokesman Dan Reeder said that more of the Ground Systems Group’s 14,500 employees may be laid off as the company reacts to losing two big contracts earlier this year.

“Where possible, we are hoping to absorb some people into other parts of the company, but I can’t say for sure,” Reeder said. “The whole effort is to thin the work force a little bit and improve the profit picture.”

At Hughes’ El Segundo headquarters Thursday, company officials denied that the move had anything to do with the impending acquisition by General Motors Corp.

“We have been growing very rapidly at the Fullerton facility with the expectation that we would have the need for all of these people,” said spokesman Ray Silvius, “but that is not proving to be true so we have done some selective eliminations of jobs.”