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Airbus announced plans Wednesday to cut up to 2,500 jobs in its struggling space and defence division, in the latest sign of trouble for the European aerospace industry.<\/p>\n
The division, which employs 35,000 people, has been struggling as demand for satellites has fallen and as a consequence Airbus said it was necessary to adapt its organisation and workforce.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is expected that these measures will result in a reduction of up to 2,500 positions within Airbus Defence and Space until mid 2026,\u201d the company said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The firm said it would engage in discussions with trade unions about the changes and indicated it would like to avoid forced departures.<\/p>\n
\u201cCompulsory actions are not planned, Airbus will work with its social partners to limit the impact by relying on all available social measures,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
Airbus\u2019s net profit fell by 46 percent to 825 million euros in the first half of the year, dragged down by a 989-million euro writedown in its space business.<\/p>\n
The company had already taken a 600-million euro charge in 2023 in the same division.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn recent years, the defence and space sector and, thus, our Division have been impacted by a fast changing and very challenging business context,\u201d Airbus Defence and Space CEO Mike Schoellhorn said in a statement.<\/p>\n
He said the challenges include \u201cdisrupted supply chains, rapid changes in warfare and increasing cost pressure due to budgetary constraints\u201d.<\/p>\n
The European company is the world leader for telecommunications satellites but is facing a drop in demand that has also affected other players in the industry.<\/p>\n
France\u2019s Thales earlier this year re-assigned some 1,300 positions in its space division.<\/p>\n
Telecommunication and navigation satellites are all made to order, eliminating the possibility of benefitting from economies of scale, unlike in Airbus\u2019s flagship commercial aircraft business.<\/p>\n
The division is also facing greater competition from SpaceX and its Starlink constellation of low-orbit satellites.<\/p>\n
Schoellhorn said changes begun in 2023 have begun to bear fruit and that the new measures aimed to keep the Defence and Space division a leading and competitive player in the sector.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n