As part of a company-wide reorganization, Boeing is shifting more than 2,000 positions from its Huntington Beach operations to facilities in Los Angeles County and elsewhere, the company announced last week.

 

The move is driven by a desire within the company to more effectively use the physical capacity for production within its existing operations and to use underutilized office space. In total, the reorganization is expected to see the company reduce its overall facilities space by 4.5 million square feet – the size of more than 93 football fields – by the end of 2020, company executives said.

 

“In order to push ourselves farther and win more business, we need to make the most of our resources and talent,” Leanne Caret, president and CEO, Defense, Space & Security, said in a prepared statement. “These steps will help us be a stronger partner for our customers worldwide.”

 

Locally, operations are being condensed into space that is at this point being underutilized, particularly in Long Beach and in El Segundo, Tiffany Pitts, a Boeing communications specialist, told the Business Journal.

 

“There will be a condensed footprint in Orange County. And in Los Angeles, we are not at capacity right now,” Pitts said. “This is about right-sizing and making sure we are utilizing all of our footprint and that we are being as efficient as possible.”

 

The job numbers look like this:

• Currently, there are about 5,000 positions in the company’s Huntington Beach operations.

• Of those, 300 positions are being shifted to the company’s Seal Beach facility.

• Boeing’s El Segundo and Long Beach operations are receiving a combined 1,600 positions. The Long Beach employees will  be moved to the Boeing buildings at Carson Street and Lakewood Boulevard.

• An additional 500 positions are being shifted from Huntington Beach to the company’s facility in St. Louis.

 

The company’s news release states that 400 positions are being relocated to its Huntsville, Alabama, operation, and that some of those positions are being relocated from Huntington Beach.

 

However, it is not clear yet how many of those positions going to Huntsville are being relocated from Huntington Beach. The company is relocating positions throughout the United States, and the final disposition of many positions is still in a state of flux. Positions in Kent, Washington, are being relocated to the Seattle suburb of Tukwila, and the company’s facilities in El Paso and Newington, Virginia, are being shuttered.

 

“Making better use of our facilities will enhance efficiency and promote greater collaboration,” Caret said. “This will help drive our global growth in Boeing’s second century.”

 

Internationally, the company’s realignment will see three national organizations managed under a single global operations group. Boeing Defence Australia, Boeing Defense Saudi Arabia and Boeing Defence United Kingdom will be managed by David Pitchforth, who will continue as managing director of Boeing Defence UK.

 

California remains a key component in Boeing’s operations. El Segundo houses the world’s largest satellite factory, and the company’s other Southern California facilities play a critical role in commercial airplane engineering, as well as military and commercial airplane product support.

 

“Boeing celebrated its centennial in 2016. It has been in California for almost all of those 100 years. The best way to honor that legacy is positioning for a solid future,” the company said in a news release. “These moves set us on a course to become a global industrial champion during our second century.”