Defense Cuts Could Mean DC Job Losses And Gains
WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA) --- The announcement Thursday that the Obama administration is changing the structure of the American military and trimming nearly half a trillion dollars from the Pentagon budget over the next decade means both the possibility of job loss and some job gain in the Greater Washington area over the next several years.
"Defense spending is our strength in Greater Washington, one of our cottage industries, if you will, and we're going to see that cool quickly and then, because of the uncertainty, you're going to see more of a hold on hiring, unfortunately," said Greater Washington Board of Trade CEO and President Jim Dinegar.
President Obama said cold war-era technology will give way to the information technology of the 21st century, and in that policy shift there may be opportunity for Washington area defense contractors.
"I think there will be a lot of increases in our area because we are more technology-based than ground force-based. The technology areas are in cyberspace, cyber warfare, missile defense, intelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance, the kind of things that that allow us to operate globally without using a lot of people," said Steve Charles, the founder of immixGroup, a defense contractor based in Tysons Corner.
"I think, possibly, this strategy and our technology focus means we won't see a lot of downside here but some companies will be impacted. Some companies will actually be impacted negatively because there are companies here who do support the ground troops and equipment that those folks carry but, to ther extent that those companies can re-tool and become focused on technology-based expenditures, they will be part of the future," Charles told 9News Now.