Raytheon To Cut 14,000 Jobs

Defense contractor Raytheon Co. is slashing 16 percent of its work force, or about 14,000 jobs, over two years in an effort to cut costs.

The company had earlier estimated that it would cut 8,700 positions.

William Swanson, a Raytheon vice president and chief executive officer of the division involved, said Wednesday that the work force reduction in the company's Raytheon Systems Company unit is an acceleration of a 10-month-old restructuring.

Company officials said facilities would be shut down in Lewisville, Texas; Mukilteo, Wash.; Orangeburg, S.C.; and San Jose, Calif.

A facility in Waltham, Mass. will be closed as well, but workers there are expected to be transferred to Andover and Tewksbury.

Work from facilities around the country may be brought to Massachusetts as business is consolidated at Raytheon facilities in Andover, company officials said.

Raytheon is somewhat restricted in its ability to lay off workers in Massachusetts because the company was given a $25 million a year tax break in exchange for promising to keep its state workforce steady.

There was a loophole in the deal, however, allowing the company to escape the restriction if defense contracts slumped.

For 75 years, Raytheon developed defense technologies and found commercial applications for them in electronics, aircraft products, appliances, energy and environmental services.

More recently, the company has focused on defense and commercial electronics, business aviation and special mission aircraft, and engineering and construction.

Raytheon Systems Company, the part of the company cutting jobs, is a global leader in defense electronics and integrated information systems.

Written By SHARON L. LYNCH