. . . BUT AT ITT, 30 MORE JOBS LOST

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, February 2, 1993                   TAG: 9302020070
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
. . . BUT AT ITT, 30 MORE JOBS LOST
Uncertainties of peacetime defense contracting led ITT Corp. to cut 30 salaried jobs at its Roanoke County night-vision goggles plant Monday.
The job reduction, effective March 26, is the first at the plant since 89 production jobs were eliminated this past summer.
But the factory has cut about 430 jobs in less than three years because of defense-spending reductions. The latest cuts drop the plant's work force to about 670.
The ITT move pushes the Roanoke Valley's announced job losses in the past six months to about 2,750 full- and part-time jobs, counting retrenchment and closings at Dominion Bank, Sears Telecatalog, Gardner-Denver Mining and Construction and Grumman Emergency Products.
Although ITT's Electro-Optical Products Division last fall won a five-year contract with the U.S. Army to produce night-vision goggles, the company said this was not enough to sustain the present work force. The new contract is for a lesser amount than previous contracts, ITT says.
If the plant wants to remain competitive in the defense market and become viable in the commercial field, said Neil Gallagher, the division's new president, "we must find ways to reduce costs across the board." Cost reduction includes fewer personnel, he said.
The ITT division has been actively seeking commercial sales to replace the declining defense market. The company does not yet know the extent of military spending for such products as night-vision goggles under the Clinton administration, Gallagher said.
The layoff notices posted Monday are for non-union jobs in engineering, manufacturing, accounting and data processing.
Last month, Gallagher told the Governor's Commission on Defense Conversion and Economic Adjustment that the Roanoke County plant might be forced to lay off 150 workers by next year unless it finds new commercial business to replace defense work.
Gallagher later termed the projection as "a worst-case scenario" and said he did not have specific layoff plans.
Gallagher said ITT, along with many other companies in defense contracting, is looking for ways to trim expenses.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB