BAE Systems confirms job losses
BAE Systems is set to stop manufacturing at its aircraft factory in East Yorkshire as it confirmed it is to cut almost 900 jobs at the site.
The 899 jobs losses at Brough are part of a decision by the country’s largest defence manufacturer to cut 2,942 positions at plants across the UK, which were confirmed this morning.
BAE said it had “commenced consultation on ending manufacturing capability” at the Brough site, which is a specialist manufacturer of the Hawk aircraft.
Other sites facing significant job losses include at Samlesbury, Warton and Preston in Lancashire, where more than 1,300 positions are set to go.
Ian King, chief executive of BAE Systems, said: “Our customers are facing huge pressures on their defence budgets and affordability has become an increasing priority. Our business needs to rise to this challenge to maintain its competitiveness and ensure its long term future.
“Some of our major programmes have seen significant changes. The four partner nations in the Typhoon programme have agreed to slow production rates to help ease their budget pressures. Whilst this will help extend our production schedule and ensure the production line stays open until we receive anticipated export contracts, it does reduce the workload at a number of our sites.
“Pressure on the US defence budget and top level programme changes mean the anticipated increase in F-35 production rates will be slower than originally planned, again impacting on our expected workload.
“To ensure we remain competitive, both in the UK and internationally, we need to reduce the overall costs of our businesses in-line with our reduced workload.
“The proposals announced today aim to put the business into the right shape to address the challenges we face now and in the future and ensure we are in the best possible position to win future business. This transformation process is not going to be easy. We understand that this is a time of uncertainty for our employees and we are committed to working with them and their representatives to explore ways of mitigating the potential job losses.”
Responding to the news that BAE Systems will be making redundancies in the UK, Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “This news from BAE Systems will be a serious knock to the individuals and communities affected. My officials and the BIS local teams are already in touch with the company, local authorities and local enterprise partnerships to make sure that everything possible is done to help those affected at Brough, Warton, Samlesbury and other sites.
“Last year I set up the Skills and Jobs Retention Group, chaired by Allan Cook, to help skilled workers find new jobs in UK manufacturing. The group will ensure that the shortage of engineers in UK manufacturing is not exacerbated by the loss of talented people from companies like BAE Systems.
“The group has set up a new national web based system to make it easier for companies to recruit skilled workers who have been made redundant and the JobCentre Plus Rapid Response Service is also on hand to provide a range of support measures.”
