In a breaking story from the San Diego Tribune, the West Coast’s last great shipbuilder General Dynamics NASSCO has let go 560 employees.  Of that number, 290 were company workers and the remainder, subcontractors and the overall layoffs represent a significant portion of its entire payroll of 4,100 workers.

According to the Tribune, Dynamics is one of San Diego County’s 20 largest employers.  Also according to the piece, the total number of layoffs is roughly half of the initial amount contemplated.

As in recent layoffs announced by Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, they come as orders for production at the company’s shipyards slows.  NASSCO is prepped to deliver tomorrow the Empire State, a 600-foot long commercial tanker that will be used by the Navy.  Work is also being finished on Evergreen State, another commercial ship.  After that, the company simply does not have enough orders on deck to employ its current roster of workers.