Is manufacturing alive and well? (Los Angeles, San Diego: insurance, job market, construction)

[movingfromcolorado]

I currently live in the greater Denver area but was laid off from my job this past January. I’ve been looking and it seems like I may have to relocate in order to find work. I have a background in Project and Operations management (15+years) in a manufacturing environment (consumer products and defense related items). There are openings in the Denver area but they tend to be for tech firms (IT project management). I have a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and have a very strong skill set. My questions are:

• Are there manufacturing jobs in the area?
• Salaries. I know you don’t have my resume, but what rates are common?
• I’ve been thinking about positions with the Federal Gov, or working for a government contractor. Are there many of these types of positions? Does anyone have leads?

I am beginning to contact recruiter’s in the area and will get their take on the area as well. I would just like feedback from those in the area.

Thanks!

[Oerdin]

Not in this country.

[NYSD1995]

Consumer products, there is nothing here. San Diego is a small city with no heavy industry. Our manufacturing sector is primarily focused around small-scale light industrial and high-tech. Most of that stuff is focused around either bio-med, or defense. More common is R&D work that gets built elsewhere. San Diego's job market is traditionally weak, but if you can adapt to the sectors that are here (and it seems like you might be able to), you should be able to find something, but I think overall, it will be very hard for you to find work in a manufacturing sector.

Once upon a time San Diego built missiles and rockets, but aside from military stuff large-scale manufacturing was never really done here, and whatever was here is now long gone. A lot of that work has gone to places like AZ, TX, and the southeast. Look at Cubic, Raytheon, Scimitar, Northrop-Grumman, etc... to start.

If you can obtain secret clearance you will have more options. There is a lot of defense-related work but most of it is software as you have noticed. You might have better options in the Los Angeles area, which was the traditional hub for aerospace engineering for a long time (although most of that work is gone too) and has a massive industrial base in comparison to San Diego. The Riverside-San Bernardino area is a center for shipping and logistics, that also is worth a look.

As for salaries you can expect to make no more than you would in Denver, and housing costs of 100-200% more. I have looked at Denver's job market and it appears to me to be stronger than to San Diego's in general with more diversity and more large private employers. San Diego's is primarily a tourist, resort & retirement city with the largest employers being the Federal Government (military) and the state of CA.

[Oerdin]

There is some heavy manufacturing but it is all defense related. Aircraft, rockets & missile parts, or satellites. Oh, and of course ship building.

[Clark SD]

Do you speak spanish? There is no mentionable manufacturing in San Diego. Most people still in manufacturing cross the border daily and work in Tijuana.

[movingfromcolorado]

Thanks for the input. No I don't speak Spanish but I should learn. As a Project Manager, it’s not necessary for me to actually be on the production floor – I make sure that the project stays on track meaning budget, scope, and time. So if the actual parts are made out of state/country that doesn’t mean there aren’t domestic jobs for me. Do you know of some of the defense contractors in the area?

[loveautumn]

SAIC
GENERAL DYNAMICS NASSCO
NORTHROP GRUMMAN
GENERAL ATOMICS
GAE SYSTEMS
L-3 COMMUNICATIONS
DUBIC
VIASAT
REMEC DEFENSE
KRATOS DEFENSE
SGIS
ACCENTURE
INDUS TECHNOLOGY
ORI SERVICES
RQ CONSTRUCTION
COLSA CORP
DEFENSEWEB TECHNOLOGIES
STRATEGIC DATA SYSTEMS
QUASAR
SYZYGY TECHNOLOGIES
HARPER CONSTRUCTION
INFORMATION SYSTEMS LABORATORIES
TELE CONSULTANTS INC
HONDO ELECTRIC
INTERFACE DISPLAYS AND CONTROLS
BURNS & MCDONNELL ENGINEERING
SENTEK CONSULTING
I.E. PACIFIC INC
TECHNICAL LOGISTICS CORP
INDEPENDENT ENERGY SOLUTIONS
J5 SYSTEMS
SUN SOLAR

As of March 1, 2008

[oddstray]

Originally Posted by loveautumn

GAE SYSTEMS

That'll be BAE SYSTEMS.

[Oerdin]

Originally Posted by Clark SD

Do you speak spanish? There is no mentionable manufacturing in San Diego. Most people still in manufacturing cross the border daily and work in Tijuana.

Yeah, there actually is a great deal of manufacturing 15 minutes from downtown in TJ. Toyota has a car factory, there are around a half dozen television factories, and more subsuppliers then you can shake a stick at. The go there for the lower wages, nonexistent environmental regulation, and lack of things like workers compensation & unemployment insurance.

A lot of those companies do have white collar operations here in San Diego. Things like engineering, accounting, supply management, upper management, etc...

[movingfromcolorado]

Thanks for the leads!