5,000 jobs at risk in aerospace industries, warns study

ALMOST 5,000 Scottish jobs may be at risk because of proposed redundancies in the aerospace engineering and civil aviation industries, a new study has warned.

The findings by Strathclyde University’s Fraser of Allander Institute (FAI) found that the planned job losses in the two sectors could also inflict a £325 million blow to the Scottish economy.

In the FAI report, which was commissioned by the Unite Scotland trade union, 1,500 direct job losses are estimated in civil aviation, from companies including Menzies Aviation and Swissport – with a knock-on effect for another 830 jobs.

Following aerospace engineering redundancy consultations and voluntary severance schemes for 1,225 roles at Rolls Royce, GE Caledonian, Spirit Aerosystems and Wyman Gordon, the report also forecasts the ultimate loss of 2,530 jobs across Scotland.

Scotland’s Gross Value Added (GVA) could suffer an overall loss of approximately £140m because of the impact on the civil aviation industry, in addition to a £185m decrease from the aerospace engineering sector, the FAI estimates.

The director of the FAI, Graeme Roy, said: “The full effects of the economic crisis from the Covid-19 shutdown are sadly only beginning to crystalise.

“The job losses announced already in key parts of our economy have the potential to be a damaging blow to Scotland’s long-term economic prospects.”

Unite Scotland is now warning that both sectors “could be on the brink of terminal decline”.