As Hiring Picks Up Here, Layoffs Continue There

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is planning a hiring fair in Laguna Hills in February. A "Now Hiring" banner hangs outside Tony Maroni's pizzeria in Irvine. Boeing Co. is skywriting its appeal for workers across the skies.

But some companies aren't finished wielding the ax.

Since November,

The state requires companies to do so if they plan to sack 50 or more people. Some firing less than 50 people still report to the state to help workers find new jobs or training.

It's still a job market of mixed signals, and when a recovery from the jobless recovery might happen is anyone's guess.

In Chapman University's recent economic forecast, economists predicted Orange County will lose more manufacturing jobs, and the sector stands to make up a smaller percentage of the county's workforce.

Ultimately, those jobs are expected to be replaced by service jobs. And not necessarily the low-paying, burger-flipping types but higher paying jobs in healthcare and financial services.

Overall, OC's employment is expected to take a dip in the first quarter and wobble throughout the year, ending with a net gain of 24,467 jobs, a 1.7% rise, versus 2003, according to Chapman.

One company that won't be adding workers is Solectron Corp., the Milpitas-based contract electronics maker. It is closing its Cypress facility and laid off about 75 workers last month. The move is part of an ongoing restructuring to cut costs, according to Birgit Johnston, spokeswoman for Solectron.

Solectron isn't alone. Other companies that have filed layoff plans with the state include:

* Silgan Plastics Corp., a Missouri maker of plastic bottles, is closing its Anaheim plant and laying off 96 workers.

* Dallas-based Drive Servicing, an auto lender for borrowers with less than perfect credit that's part of Britain's HBOS PLC, is laying off 94 workers in Cypress.

* Tyco International Ltd. is laying off 91 people at its Tyco Healthcare Ludlow unit in Huntington Beach.

* Avaya LLC, the New Jersey maker of phone systems, is laying off 71 workers in Tustin and also has operations in Irvine.

* KNI Inc., an Anaheim book maker, is laying off 66 workers.

* Foxconn Electronics Inc., part of Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., is laying off 27 people in Cypress and Fullerton. It makes computer products, including connectors and cables.

* American Racing Equipment Inc., a Rancho Dominguez maker of custom sports wheels that's part of Canada's Noranda Inc., a miner of aluminum and other metals, is laying off 14 workers.