Jobs fear as aerospace giant announces major cuts

AN engineering company which employs 1,000 people in the region has announced major cuts.

Aerospace engineering group Meggitt is planning to axe around 1,800 roles globally.

Meggitt employs up to 1,000 people at its base on Ansty Park in Coventry which opened last year after the company decided to relocate its global headquarters from Bournemouth Airport. It is not clear how the latest announcement will affect the Coventry operation.

Meggitt, which makes parts used in planes, said it was axing around 15 per cent of its 12,000-strong worldwide workforce in response to a slump in civil aerospace demand.

The move is aimed at slashing costs as the coronavirus crisis hits the civil aerospace sector hard. The site is also its European operational centre for braking systems, thermal solutions and services and support. The listed company also has offices in Tyseley and Erdington in Birmingham and Leicestershire alongside several other UK bases.

It has not yet specified where exactly the roles will be lost and how many staff in the West Midlands may be affected.

Meggitt employs 2,500 people in the UK and around 6,500 in the US, with other global operations in countries such as China, German, France and Brazil. In an update to the stock exchange, the company said: “To mitigate the reduction in demand, we have already taken action to reduce variable costs including accessing furlough schemes where available and reducing temporary labour.

“While we recognise the need to retain flexibility as demand patterns develop over the coming months, we have taken the difficult decision to reduce the size of our global workforce by around 15 per cent, subject to ongoing consultation in the regions in which we operate.

“This action will ensure that our internal capacity across our civil aerospace business reflects the reduction in demand and positions us appropriately as we enter 2021.”