Fluor Corp., Orange County’s third-largest public company by sales, said Tuesday it’s moving its headquarters from Aliso Viejo to Texas by early next year.
The move to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area is designed to cut costs and bring Fluor closer to customers in the central and eastern part of the country, the company said.
Fluor plans to keep engineering operations in Aliso Viejo and Long Beach. The company employs about 1,380 people in Orange County. About 900 people work in engineering in Aliso Viejo and Long Beach.
Another 490 people work in Fluor’s headquarters administration operation in Aliso Viejo. About 100 of those jobs are set to move to Texas. Another 290 workers are expected to be reassigned elsewhere within Fluor, the company said.
The move could entail up to 100 layoffs.
“Today’s announcement reflects Fluor’s strategy to improve operational efficiency and position the company to more effectively serve our global client base,” said Fluor Chief Executive Alan Boeckmann. “While we highly value our West Coast clients, most of our North American customers are clustered in Texas and on the East Coast, which can be more efficiently accessed from the central time zone. In addition, the Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport provides optimal travel connections to customers in all other global locations.”
In recent years, Fluor has undertaken several moves to boost efficiency, including tapping engineers in the Philippines, Poland and elsewhere. The company also has moved senior business unit executives closer to customers they serve.
Fluor said it plans to keep its philanthropic foundation in Southern California.
With $9.4 billion in sales last year, Fluor ranked third behind Santa Ana’s Ingram Micro Inc. and Cypress-based PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. among OC’s largest publicly traded companies.
The news follows recent word from OC’s largest private company, Newport Beach’s Pacific Life Insurance Co., which plans to shift its mailing address to Nebraska but keep its top management and other operations here.
Michael Lyster
