Laid off from Northrop Grumman.
Northrop Grumman has said its layoff notices would reach more people than its layoffs, and after warning about 1,000 Southern California space workers in February 2024 it moved more than 600 of them into other Northrop jobs, the Los Angeles Times reported. Its one filing since 2025 in our tracker closed a San Jose plant.
At a glance
What's known about Northrop Grumman severance and layoffs
- 97 all time, 1 since 2025 began · Northrop WARN filings in our tracker
- About 100,000, per SpaceNews · Northrop employees, 2024
- About 1,000 jobs; 600-plus workers redeployed · Southern California space cuts, February 2024
- Up to 550 jobs, as reported · Southern California space cuts, August 2024
- 543 employees · Chandler, Arizona notice, June 2024
- $3.4 billion to Peraton · IT services sale, 2021
- Nearly 1,000 staff to Serco · Training unit sale, 2025
- Required an HR memo naming the employee · Severance eligibility, 2012 layoffs
Recent Northrop Grumman layoffs
Northrop Grumman filed in August 2025 to close its San Jose plant and cut 78 jobs
In August 2025, Northrop Grumman filed to permanently close its Mission Systems site at 6379 San Ignacio Ave. in San Jose, with 78 jobs scheduled to end in three waves through June 30, 2026. It tied the closure to a program winddown and location consolidation. Our tracker holds no Northrop filings from 2026.
Previous rounds
Northrop Grumman layoff history
In February 2024, Northrop Grumman said more employees would get WARN notices than would finally be affected, and in August 2025 it said the same of its San Jose closure. That's cold comfort while you wait to find out which list you're on. Our WARN filing tracker holds 97 Northrop filings all time and one filing covering 78 jobs since the start of 2025, none from 2026, which is a short paper record for a company of approximately 100,000 people in 2024.
Before San Jose came the larger 2024 rounds, two of them in space. On February 26, 2024, Northrop warned California space staff of possible cuts, and the Los Angeles Times later reported that it had told them about 1,000 jobs in Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach and Azusa could go, then moved more than 600 of those workers into other Northrop jobs. An August notice put up to 550 jobs at risk in Redondo Beach and Manhattan Beach, and Arizona's record shows a June 7, 2024 notice for 543 employees in Chandler. Northrop gave no reason for February and named no programs for August. Reporters noted that the Space Force had canceled a classified Northrop communications satellite program, as Bloomberg reported, that charges on the HALO lunar module reached $100 million in 2023, and that CFO Dave Keffer had spoken in January of customers reworking budget priorities for 2025 and beyond. No source ties any of it to a layoff.
San Jose came next. A filing with California's Employment Development Department showed Northrop permanently closing its site on San Ignacio Avenue, 78 jobs, and the WARN letter said the whole plant was closing without naming the program winding down. Northrop told the Business Journal the Mission Systems site's shutdown was connected to a program winddown and location consolidation, and said it was weighing openings for those workers, including at its Sunnyvale site on Hendy Avenue. Separations were set for October 31, 2025, January 29, 2026 and June 30, 2026.
If one of those openings comes your way, look hard at its location before you answer. The Labor Department's worker guide to federal WARN treats an offer of work within a reasonable commute as no employment loss at all, even if you decline, provided the offer comes before the layoff and results from a consolidation or transfer of the business. An offer farther away counts as a loss unless you take it within 30 days. In California, the EDD's rules cover a plant closure of any size at an establishment that employs, or in the preceding 12 months employed, 75 or more full- and part-time workers, call for 60 days' written notice, and require the notice to say whether the whole plant is closing and when separations begin. Notices under the 2026 rules also have to explain what support the employer is arranging, and Rapid Response teams exist to help with the job search, training and questions about unemployment benefits.
Two businesses left Northrop by sale. IT services went to Peraton, a Veritas affiliate, for $3.4 billion in a deal that closed February 1, 2021, with no headcount in the release. In May 2025 Northrop finished selling substantially all of its Immersive Mission Solutions training unit for $333 million, and the buyer, Serco, had said nearly 1,000 people would join it.
Severance is the thinnest part of the record. Northrop laid off workers in 2012 without paying all of them severance. The plan litigated over those layoffs covered a laid-off employee scheduled at least 20 hours a week only with a memo addressed to them by name, signed by a Vice President of Human Resources or that person's designee. Workers without one said that until October 2011 Northrop had sent that memo to every laid-off employee who had worked enough hours, which Northrop denied, and the Seventh Circuit ruled against them in 2023, holding that the plan itself controls over past practice. No amount or formula for any Northrop round is on record. So ask in writing whether you've been designated eligible, keep any memo that names you, and compare the day your notice arrived with your separation date. If the layoff is covered, a worker who got less than 60 days' notice under federal WARN may be able to seek back pay and benefits, scaled to the notice actually given.
Reporting on previous Northrop Grumman layoff rounds
August 2025, San Jose closure · 78 jobs at a Mission Systems site on San Ignacio Avenue, scheduled to end in three waves through June 30, 2026. Northrop cited a program winddown and location consolidation.
August 2024, Redondo Beach and Manhattan Beach · Up to 550 space jobs, as reported, with no programs named. Northrop said it would again try to place people elsewhere.
June 2024, Chandler, Arizona · 543 employees at 1575 S. Price Rd., per Arizona's record, which gives no reason.
February 2024, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach and Azusa · About 1,000 jobs in Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach and Azusa, per the Los Angeles Times, which reported more than 600 of those workers redeployed.
2012 layoffs · Size not on record. Workers without an HR memo sued for severance and lost at the Seventh Circuit in 2023.
The plan paid only employees sent a memo naming them, signed by an HR vice president or designee. Amounts not published.
What to do after being laid off from Northrop Grumman
- File for unemployment in the state where you worked. Benefits run from your filing date, and severance usually doesn't block you. Northrop Grumman's biggest hubs: California, Arizona. Somewhere else? Every state is here.
- Apply for financial and hardship assistance. Unemployment supplements income, but food benefits, health coverage and utility help are often available as well. Here's some of what Northrop Grumman's hub states run: California, Arizona, and every other state is here.
- Mind the health insurance window. Losing coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment period, and an ACA plan usually beats unsubsidized COBRA. Compare your options before the employer coverage lapses, and read how the COBRA clocks run if you are weighing it seriously.
- Get your real runway number. Severance plus savings divided by reality. The calculator takes five minutes.
- Know which clocks are already running. Severance review windows, COBRA election, visa grace periods, and 401(k) rollovers all run on federal deadlines that started at termination. All five deadlines are here.
Northrop Grumman layoff and severance questions
Is Northrop Grumman laying off employees in 2026?
Our tracker holds no Northrop Grumman filings from 2026. Its one Northrop filing since 2025 began is the August 2025 notice closing the San Jose plant, 78 jobs, with the final separations set for June 30, 2026. Nothing in the reporting we track describes a separate 2026 round.
Why did Northrop Grumman lay off workers at Space Park?
Northrop didn't give a reason. It cited none in February 2024 and named no programs in August. Reporters noted that the Space Force had canceled a classified Northrop communications satellite program, as Bloomberg reported, and that Northrop's charges on its HALO lunar module reached $100 million in 2023. No source ties either one to a specific layoff.
Does Northrop Grumman pay severance to laid-off employees?
No amounts or formulas from any Northrop round are on record, but the eligibility rule of the plan litigated over the 2012 layoffs is. A laid-off employee scheduled at least 20 hours a week qualified only with an individually addressed memo signed by a Vice President of Human Resources or that person's designee, and in 2023 the Seventh Circuit held that workers without one weren't entitled to severance. Ask in writing whether you've been designated eligible.
Will Northrop Grumman offer me another job instead of laying me off?
It has tried. In February 2024, August 2024 and August 2025, Northrop said it was matching affected people with openings, and the Los Angeles Times reported more than 600 of February 2024's targeted workers were redeployed. The Labor Department's federal WARN guide says an offer of work within a reasonable commute means no employment loss even if you turn it down, when the offer results from a consolidation or transfer of the business and comes before the closing or layoff. Get any offer and its location in writing.
What happened to Northrop Grumman's IT services business?
Northrop sold it to Peraton, a Veritas Capital affiliate, for $3.4 billion in cash in a sale that closed February 1, 2021, and the closing release gave no headcount. In 2025 Northrop sold substantially all of its training services business too, and the buyer, Serco, said nearly 1,000 people from that business would join its workforce.
Where do I file for unemployment after being laid off from Northrop Grumman?
In the state where you worked, not where the company is headquartered. Northrop Grumman's biggest U.S. hubs are California, Arizona. Severance usually doesn't block you from filing, and benefits run from your filing date, so file the same week.
Is it OK to file for unemployment after a layoff at Northrop Grumman?
Yes. Unemployment insurance is funded by payroll taxes employers pay on wages, the claim never appears on credit reports or background checks, and future employers cannot see it. If the hesitation itself is the obstacle, whether filing is OK has its own article.
What happens to my health insurance after a layoff at Northrop Grumman?
Your plan sets the end date rather than the law, so the separation packet is where that date actually lives, and it is often the last day of the month rather than your last day of work. After coverage ends, COBRA lets you keep the identical plan by paying the whole premium yourself, up to 102 percent of what the plan really costs, which lands as several times the payroll deduction you were used to. You get 60 days to elect, counted from the later of coverage ending or the election notice arriving, and electing reaches the coverage back to the day the old plan stopped so no gap exists. How continuation coverage works walks the timing, and whether to take it rather than a marketplace plan is a separate decision.
Should I sign the severance agreement right away?
First pin down how much review time you actually have. If you're 40 or older, federal law gives you 21 days to consider an agreement that waives age claims, 45 in a group layoff, and a waiver signed under a shorter deadline can be invalid. If you're under 40, no federal window applies and the deadline in your packet may be real, so confirm it in writing and ask for more time if you need it. Use whatever window you have to read the release terms, especially non-disparagement and no-lawsuit clauses, and don't stall past a real deadline, because offers can be withdrawn.
Can I collect unemployment if I got severance from Northrop Grumman?
Usually yes, though some states delay benefits until severance pay periods end, and lump sums are treated differently than salary continuation. Check your state's rules on our state benefit pages, and file immediately either way so your claim date is locked in.