Unocal to Transfer 500 : Workers to Brea Facilities : Jobs: The move of employees from L.A., Illinois will give the city, hard hit by mergers and relocations, a much-needed economic boost.

BREA —  Unocal Corp. said Tuesday that it will bring about 500 employees from Los Angeles and Illinois to its facilities in Brea, providing some welcome relief to a city hard hit over the past year by business mergers and relocations.

The huge oil company will transfer about 250 employees from its corporate headquarters in downtown Los Angeles and another 250 people from an office in Schaumburg, Ill.

The move, scheduled to take place in November, is part of a massive restructuring that has shaved more than 1,100 employees from Unocal’s payroll since 1991. About 100 employees at the company’s Brea facilities accepted early retirement last year.

Unocal will consolidate its Petroleum Products and Chemicals Division--including the marketing, accounting and personnel departments--in an office building at Saturn Street and Imperial Highway in Brea. Some of the relocated employees will work at the Fred L. Hartley Research Center--Unocal’s sole research and development facility, established in Brea 40 years ago. The research center now houses 590 employees.

James H. Bray, a spokesman for Unocal, said that the consolidation will not require more layoffs. However, he noted that some employees in the Illinois office--which will be closed--turned down the opportunity to relocate.

Based on a formula devised by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Brea Chamber of Commerce estimated that the influx of employees will result in the creation of 300 other jobs in the area.

“More people working here means more people shopping and eating out here,” said Sherry Norman, executive director of the Brea Chamber. “Southern California is so sprawling that we can’t say every employee is actually going to live in Brea. But this will have a positive impact on the entire region--especially when it comes to the people relocating from out of state.”

Brea, which in the 1980s enjoyed an economic boom, definitely could use the lift after suffering setbacks in the past year.

“It’s wonderful to see somebody move in after watching some of our large companies move out,” Norman said.

Among the city’s biggest losses:

* Bank of America shut down Security Pacific’s data processing headquarters in Brea after the two banks merged last year, transferring or terminating about 1,700 employees.

* Mark Industries, a manufacturer of heavy-construction equipment that at its height in 1990 employed 650 people, moved to Waverly, Iowa, in September.

* Sundstrand Corp., based in Lima, Ohio, laid off 250 employees after closing its aerospace parts manufacturing plant in Brea.

And in recent months, Allstate Insurance Co. has been in the process of transferring or terminating hundreds of employees at its processing center in Brea.