General Dynamics will lay off 35 employees from its Williston-based ordnance and tactical systems office. Company spokesman Karl Johnson confirmed Thursday morning that a combination of engineering, administrative and program management positions will be eliminated between now and the end of the year.
Johnson said the layoffs stem from an earlier consolidation: The corporation announced July 15 that its armament and technical products division was rolled into the ordnance and tactical systems division. The restructuring within the combat systems business group was attributed to “changing demand” and increased competition.
A total of 240 employees will remain at Williston and its affiliated test range facility in Jericho. The 35 employees being laid off are all salaried, Johnson said. They will be eligible to participate in outplacement workshops offered by the company, and will receive a variable “employment transition benefit” consisting of extended financial and health benefits, depending on how long they had been with the company.
The Williston facility manages a rocket program that recently won a $67.5 million contract to produce Hydra-70 air-to-ground rockets for the U.S. Army. That pushed the company’s Hydra rocket work to more than $1 billion in cumulative value, according to an August press release.
General Dynamics announced it would move to Williston from Burlington in 2009 with 450 employees, according to earlier reporting by the Burlington Free Press.
