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Rolls-Royce job losses
by Bob Walker |
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Rolls-Royce has announced 5,000 job losses as a result of the crisis which has hit the airline industry since the terrorist attacks of September 11.
Almost 4,000 UK workers will be made redundant with the majority going at the aero engine plant in Derby. The actual number of jobs lost in Derby won't be known until later next month but unions say they anticipate that around 1,900 posts could go.
Rolls Royce announced 2,000 job cuts last year and it's thought that there will almost certainly be compulsory redundancies this time.
There have been widespread job cuts throughout the airline industry since the attacks in New York and Washington with a dramatic drop in passenger numbers.
The aircraft manufacturer Boeing has already announced it will cut production by more than 20 per cent next year and that between 20,000 and 30,000 jobs would have to go.
Rolls Royce's main rival, GE Aircraft Engines, is also making 4,000 people redundant.
It had been thought that Rolls Royce was better position than its competitors as most of its engines are relatively new. Analysts predict that airlines are likely to ground older planes, leaving Rolls Royce with the lucrative spares and maintenance market.
Although manufacturing in the Midlands is facing troubled times, Derby City Council officials are hopeful many Rolls Royce workers will find other jobs.
The Derby trainmaker Bombardier recently won new orders and Derby's flagship industrial estate - known as Pride Park - is running out of space for new companies.
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