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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Tekelec Plans Move of Manufacturing Operations

Tekelec Plans Move of Manufacturing Operations By SLAV KANDYBA Staff Reporter About 75 factory workers and management at Calabasas-based Tekelec face layoffs or relocation to North Carolina, as the telecommunications firm is moving all of its locally based manufacturing work there, a company official said. About 50 people will be laid of as soon as March or as late as December of this year, while 25 will be given an option to move, said Mike Attar, director of investor relations for Tekelec. The move comes as a part of a broader strategy at the company, which has plans “fully underway” to move its manufacturing to North Carolina and beyond, eventually. “All of the manufacturing (in Calabasas) is going to be either moved or outsourced,” Attar said. Tekelec makes devices deployed in traditional and wireless networks and contact centers worldwide, according to its Web site. The move to Carolina is expected to lower the costs of shipping products overseas, as the company expands globally, Attar said. It currently has a majority of its 1,100 employees in North Carolina, including the design and engineer team that creates signaling equipment, the company’s core product and wants engineers and factory workers under one roof, the business structure of Santera Systems, a Texas-based company it acquired last year. After the layoffs and move, Tekelec’s Calabasas headquarters will have about 75 employees, including top executives, he said. On the layoffs and outsourcing, Attar said: “Through the use of contract manufacturers, we don’t need the same number of personnel.” Local business experts said doing business in North Carolina will be cheaper for the company. “My guess is worker’s compensation would be cheaper in North Carolina,” said Daniel Blake, director of Cal State Northridge’s San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center. Dave Wood of AeA’s Los Angeles/Santa Barbara Council, a high-tech trade group, said: “It’s a matter of California public policy, the legislature that has gone through the last two years has continually driven companies out.” “I’ve got other companies that are suffering the same way.” But Gov. Schwarzenegger contends help is on the way. “Californians are acutely aware that our broken worker’s comp system is a job killer. That’s why Gov. Schwarzenegger has made reforming it his top priority for improving California’s business climate. The governor wants to make California competitive again, so we can stop companies from leaving and taking jobs with them,” said Vince Sollitto, the governor’s office spokesperson for worker’s compensation, business and growth issues.

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