Rolls-Royce to slash 2,600 jobs

Rolls-Royce has unveiled plans to cut 2,600 jobs across its operations in the next 18 months, with the majority from its aerospace division.

The restructuring programme is part of the company’s strategy to improve operational efficiency and reduce costs.

The company said in a statement: "This is consistent with our announcement of October 17, when we committed to accelerate progress on the four Cs: customer, concentration, cost and cash, particularly cost."

Rolls-Royce’s aerospace division produces engines for Boeing and Airbus airliners.

The lay-offs come as the Rolls-Royce’s Trent engine programme progresses to production phase, requiring fewer engineers.

Rolls-Royce CEO John Rishton said: "The measures announced today will not be the last, however they will contribute towards Rolls-Royce becoming a stronger and more profitable company.

"We will work closely with employees and their representatives to achieve the necessary reductions on a voluntary basis where possible, while making sure we retain the skills needed for the future."

The company expects these actions to result in costs of around £120m over two years, and offer annualised cost benefits of approximately £80m.

Unite, a largest trade union in Britain and Ireland, has warned Rolls-Royce that the job cuts could see significant engineering expertise lost to the UK aerospace industry.

Unite national officer Ian Waddell said: "Engineering skills and expertise are already in short supply across the aerospace industry and will be difficult to replace should there be an up-turn in business.

"We will be seeking guarantees over no compulsory redundancies and seeking assurances that the company doesn’t turn to casual labour to plug the skills cap in the future, or seek to offshore skilled UK jobs."

Last month, the British firm said that its underlying revenues for this year would be around 4% lower than expected.

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Image: Rolls-Royce Trent 900 on the prototype Airbus A380. Photo: courtesy of User:Kolossos.