Engineering giant Rolls-Royce has confirmed that around 1,500 jobs will go at its civil aerospace site in Derby as part of a major reduction of its global workforce.
Last month, the company, which is Derby’s largest private sector employer with around 12,000 staff, announced it was slashing 9,000 jobs from its global workforce of 52,000 due to a dramatic slump in the aviation industry caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
At the time, the company did not give a breakdown of where the cuts would fall – but it was feared that the Derby site, which designs, develops, tests and manufactures aero engines, would be hit hard.
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Now, the company has confirmed 3,000 jobs will go in the 海角视频, after opening a “voluntary severance” scheme. It estimates that around 1,500 jobs will go at Derby and a smaller site in Nottinghamshire this year.
Half of them will be axed from the company's site in Derby while 700 jobs will go at the Renfrewshire plant in Scotland.
Rolls-Royce will also be cutting 50 jobs from its Washington, Tyne and Wear plant, as part of the moves.
Last month, Rolls-Royce chief executive Warren East said the company had to make "difficult decisions".
He said: "This is not a crisis of our making. But it is the crisis that we face and we must deal with it. Our airline customers and airframe partners are having to adapt and so must we.
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"Being told that there is no longer a job for you is a terrible prospect and it is especially hard when all of us take so much pride in working for Rolls-Royce. But we must take difficult decisions to see our business through these unprecedented times.
Rolls-Royce also has its Defence division, in Raynesway, but staff there will not be impacted by the cuts.
Chris Cholerton, Rolls-Royce’s president of Civil Aerospace, said: “Today, following constructive talks with trade union and employee representatives, we have opened voluntary severance to all Civil Aerospace employees in the 海角视频.
“Offering voluntary severance is an important step as we resize our business to adapt to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the aviation industry over the next few years.
“Due to the unprecedented impact of the crisis on our Civil Aerospace business, we are facing changes to the business on a scale we have not seen for 50 years.
“The depth and breadth of the crisis means we have to both radically and swiftly reduce the size of our business.
“Sadly, this means that Rolls-Royce Civil Aerospace will be losing up to 8,000 roles across the globe -talented people who have worked hard to establish our world-leading position, people who share our pioneering spirit to be the best at what we do and people who have spent their entire working lives building this business.
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“In Derby and Nottinghamshire it is likely that we will see around 1,500 roles impacted this year.
“This is going to be very tough for everyone, but we have to ensure Rolls-Royce can thrive for future generations. Derby is at the heart of our business. It will continue to be, despite the challenges we are facing. We continue to work with Derby’s Economic Recovery Taskforce and are providing help and resources for employees who are affected.
“We have come through crises in the past to achieve amazing things. Taking action now means we will be able to do so again. I’m confident we will.”
As well as shedding jobs, Rolls-Royce is also cutting spending across plant and property, capital and other indirect cost areas, in order to save more cash.
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Overall, the reorganisation of the business is expected to generate annual savings of more than £1.3 billion.
Two years ago, Rolls-Royce announced plans to cut thousands of jobs at Derby, which focused on middle management and back office roles.
Rolls-Royce said that programme of job cuts would transition into this latest plan to reduce headcount.