Northrop Grumman Deals Double Whammy to Elkridge Employees

Northrop Grumman employees based in Elkridge have endured two personnel blows in the last two months.

The defense contracting company handed out pink slips on Tuesday to workers whose last day will be May 31. Last week, Northrop Grumman from offices in Maryland, Connecticut, Virginia and Florida.

“Layoff notices were issued [Tuesday] to about 70 Electronic Systems sector employees at our Maryland operations, which includes facilities in Linthicum, Annapolis, Sykesville and Elkridge,” said Jack Martin, spokesman for Northrop Grumman. He added that the number of layoffs by campus was not available.

The electronic systems division creates things like intelligence and navigation systems that operate everywhere “from undersea to outer space,” according to the division’s website.

The electronic systems layoffs were the second round of workforce reductions to affect the company's Elkridge employees in two months.

On March 22, Northrop Grumman announced that 145 Elkridge workers would lose their jobs as the result of a contract ending with the postal service, reported the Baltimore Sun.

In 2007, the United States Postal Service awarded Northrop Grumman a contract to the tune of $874.6 million to provide technology that would sort flat mail to correspond with delivery routes. The machines were assembled at the Troy Hill office in Elkridge, according to Northrop Grumman’s Technical Services magazine, and technical services personnel installed them for the postal service.

The 145 jobs in Elkridge slated to be cut are in the company’s technical services sector, said David Alt, Northrop Grumman’s vice president of communications. Employees were notified starting in April, reported the Sun, and reductions will continue through the end of August.