It is a case of give and take for Colorado.
This week, roughly 180 workers received pink slips from two metro-area employers.
Meanwhile, a new call center in Sterling will create up to 250 jobs.
Raytheon Co. on Thursday told about 50 employees from its engineering and information-technology departments in Aurora that they will be laid off, said company spokeswoman Darci Bushey.
Changes to a classified government defense contract forced Raytheon to cut its workforce, Bushey said. The employees will be given severance pay based on length of service and can stay with the company through Nov. 18.
On average, engineers in the metro area make $39.66 an hour, or about $82,500 annually, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
The Waltham, Mass.-based aerospace and defense-systems supplier employs about 2,700 people in Aurora.
Separately, Douglas County-based printing company Cenveo announced plans to close its plant at 3500 Rockmont Drive in Denver by February.
The closing will eliminate 128 full-time jobs, said Bill Burch, executive vice president for Cenveo. The company employs 9,000 people, including about 500 at four sites in Colorado.
Colorado also gained some jobs Thursday.
Safe Auto Insurance Co. has chosen Sterling as the site for a new call center that could eventually employ 250 or more workers.
The jobs, split between customer-service and insurance-sales workers, are expected to pay an average of $32,500 a year, said Jon Diamond, president of the Columbus, Ohio, insurer.
Sterling, Logan County and the state of Colorado have agreed to pitch in incentives potentially worth more than $1 million to win what is expected to be an $8 million-a-year payroll, said Brett Challenger, executive director of Logan County Economic Development.
The company uses television ads to market bare-bones auto-insurance policies that allow drivers to comply with their states’ laws.
Safe Auto is seeking bilingual workers to serve Spanish-speaking customers. Interested applicants can visit the Sterling Workforce Center, 100 College Drive.
Staff writer Aldo Svaldi can be reached at 303-820-1410 or asvaldi@denverpost.com.
Staff writer Andy Vuong can be reached at 303-820-1209 or avuong@denverpost.com.
