Rolls-Royce plans to layoff at least 9,000 employees, or more than a sixth of its workforce, in the latest blows to the UK economy dealt by the coronavirus pandemic.
The company, which makes engines for planes such as the Boeing 787 and Airbus 350, said on Wednesday it could also close factories as it shrinks to fit the smaller market it expects to emerge from the crisis. Airlines and their supplies have been among the hardest-hit businesses by lockdowns to contain the pandemic, with passenger air travel grinding to a virtual halt.
RecommendedMust Read
Britain, like many other economies, is also bracing for a deep recession, with jobless claims in April leaping to the highest in nearly 24 years.
“We have to reduce our cost base and adapt to the new world, matching our capacity with expected demand,” Rolls-Royce Chief Executive Warren East told reporters, unveiling the company’s biggest round of cuts since privatisation in 1987.
The 9,000 jobs, out of a global staff of 52,000, will go predominantly from Rolls’s civil aerospace business, which generates just over half of its £15 billion ($18 billion) of annual revenues.
Rolls said it was targeting £1.3 billion of annual cost savings, with about 700 million coming from layoffs plus other cuts that could include factory closures.
