BAE Systems to cut 473 NW jobs

DEFENCE giant BAE Systems has announced plans to cut more than 470 jobs from three North West plants as part of an efficiency drive, amid Government spending cuts.

The site at Warton in Lancashire will be most badly affected, with 298 planned redundancies, while there will be 149 job losses at the Samlesbury operation in the county. A further 26 posts will be affected at the site in Chadderton, Oldham.

The firm’s site at Brough, East Yorkshire is set to lose 212 posts, the company said. 

The cuts are all in BAE’s Military Air Solutions Business, which includes the Eurofighter  and Joint Strike Fighter.

BAE Systems said Government spending cuts were partly to blame: “These potential job losses result from the impact of the changes in the Defence programme announced in December 2009, together with other workload changes. 

“Also the Government is currently undertaking a Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR), and whilst the findings are not yet known, it is vital that MAS remains competitive and properly positioned.”  

At Samlesbury the potential job losses are associated with the reduction in work packages undertaken by BAE Systems for Spirit Aerosystems (Europe) and changing workload levels across a number of other production programmes. 

Reduced workload on the Tornado, Harrier and Hawk programmes and a reduction in engineering development and test work are behind the planned cuts at Warton.

The cuts at Chadderton are associated with the reduction in workload in the Large Aircraft business due to the completion of VC10 work and the retirement of Nimrod R1 in early 2011. 

Kevin Taylor, managing director of Military Air Solutions said: “While we regret having to make this announcement we must ensure we remain competitive by having the correct skills, capabilities and resources. 

“We appreciate this is difficult news for our employees and we are committed to working with our employees and their representatives to explore ways of mitigating these potential job losses and supporting our people at this time.”