British defence firm axes 3,000 jobs
September 27th, 2011 - 7:24 pm ICT by IANSLondon, Sep 27 (IANS) Britain-based defence firm BAE Systems will cut almost 3,000 jobs in the country, a media report said Tuesday.
In a statement, BAE said the decision to cut 2,942 jobs will mainly affect its military aircraft division, Sky News reported.
“Our customers are facing huge pressures on their defence budgets and affordability has become an increasing priority. To ensure we remain competitive, both in Britain and internationally, we need to reduce the overall costs of our businesses in-line with our reduced workload,” said Ian King, chief executive of BAE Systems.
BAE Systems is Britain’s largest defence and security company, with 39,000 employees and around 9,000 British businesses in its supply chain.
Officials said the government’s defence cuts were to blame for the job losses.
Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “This news from BAE Systems will be a serious knock to the individuals and communities affected.”
Shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy said the news was a “devastating blow” and a “real knock” for British manufacturing.
BAE has a 33 percent stake in the Eurofighter joint venture company alongside the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) and Italian firm Finmeccanica and has received orders for 550 planes from the four partner nations involved - Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain.
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