Aircraft Engine Manufacturer Rolls-Royce to Cut 15% of its WorkForce as Planemakers Airbus and Boeing Slash Production

BRITISH aero-engine maker Rolls-Royce is planning to axe up to 8,000 jobs due to Airbus and Boeing cutting its orders over the coronavirus pandemic.

The proposed restructuring plan will shrink the firm’s workforce of 52,000 by up to 15 per cent, according to several sources inside the company.

It follows Ryanair’s announcement on Friday that it is preparing to cut 3,000 jobs or 15 per cent of its 19,000 workforce, and IAG’s plan to slash 12,000 staff at British Airways or almost 30 per cent of the 42,000 employed.

An announcement on a final figure is not expected before the end of May when Rolls-Royce has said it will update employees. Discussions have just begun with unions, the sources said, and measures could still be found to mitigate the final number.

However, the scale is still likely to be larger than after 9/11 when the group cut 5,000 jobs, two people said. News of the planned job losses, which are expected to hit the UK civil business hardest, will be a blow to the government that had hoped to preserve employment by offering wage support programmes.