Raytheon Company plans to expand its southern Arizona operations by adding nearly 2,000 various jobs at the Missile Systems headquarters over five years.

The company will hire workers of all skill levels with an emphasis on engineering and technical positions. Job creation, facilities expansion and work output are expected to boost Arizona's economy by billions of dollars over 10 years.

"These rewarding, high technology jobs will support Raytheon's growth and bring even more top talent to this region," Dr. Taylor Lawrence, Raytheon Missile Systems president, said. "The strong support we receive from state and local organizations is essential to our expansion plans, and will help provide Raytheon with the workforce and infrastructure to meet the growing demand we are seeing from our customers."

Partners in the expansion initiative include Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, Arizona Commerce Authority, Pima County, City of Tucson, Sun Corridor Inc., Tucson Electric Power and the Tucson Airport Authority.

"With an existing workforce of 10,000 people and a network of over 500 suppliers in Arizona, Raytheon is the largest private employer in southern Arizona and has an incredibly positive economic impact throughout our state," Ducey said. "Increasing Raytheon's infrastructure and job growth in Arizona is a major win for all of us, and the result of strong partnerships statewide."