Government shutdown takes toll on Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (KABC) -- The impact of the government shutdown is being felt across the U.S.

For Matt Williams, a government employee in Annapolis, the partial government shutdown is starting to take a toll.

"I don't really have anywhere to be. I don't really have anything to do," said Williams.

Williams has been struggling with the financial and emotional impact of being furloughed without pay.

"I've been spending a lot of time thinking about how much are the things I own worth. And if I had to, what would I sell first to try to pay the rent?" said Williams.

The shutdown's ripple effects have extended to all parts of the country, including here in Southern California.

"It's a very hard time for the corporation and the people at this point in time," said Mike Drennan, vice president of Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo.

Back on Oct. 3, the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center directed Aerospace to stop work on non-essential programs. That means that about 2,000 of the 3,500 contractors who worked there have been without work.

"So about 60 percent of our workforce was impacted in some way due to this government shutdown," said Drennan.

The nonprofit corporation is a federally funded research center. Drennan says the shutdown is taking a toll.

"As far as the aerospace workforce, it is sparse these days," he said.

As for the impact on state government, Gov. Jerry Brown said do not expect to see California paying to reopen our national parks, as has been the case in other states.

"Do you think we get repaid? The federal government's credit is not as good as it should be," said Brown.

Brown, who was in Los Angeles Monday, says he doesn't want to let the federal government off the hook when it comes to ending the shutdown.

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los angeles news, robert holguin

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