Back in April, we had Bob McDonnell touting Northrop Grumman’s decision to move its corporate HQ to northern Virginia. At a cost of just $12-$14 million to taxpayers, we supposedly got 300 new jobs coming our way. Good stuff, right?
Yes, but. The next thing we found out is that Northrop Grumman might also be laying off 330 people at Fort Eustis. As a Richmond BizSense article asked at the time, “Did we gain 300 jobs only to lose 330? Is this Northrop’s way of saying “thank you very much for the $14 million in tax breaks” that were, no doubt, a factor in their decision?”
Well, now it’s begun.
Herndon-based Northrop Grumman says it’s laying off 173 people in Virginia.
Northrop Grumman announced the layoff Friday. The company says the employees work at Fort Eustis, where Northrop Grumman provides maintenance, transportation and other services.
In other words, Nothrop Grumman giveth, Northrop Grumman taketh away. So far, Virginia’s net jobs gain is 127 people (300-173) and falling fast, at a cost of $14 million. That’s about $100,000 per job, with the cost increasing as the number of net jobs gained falls. Great stuff, huh? Heckuva job by Bob McDonnell.
On the other hand, as an added bonus, Virginia gets to enjoy its “troubled 10-year, $2.36 billion statewide outsourcing contract” with Northrop Grumman for information technology services. Such a deal!
