Rolls-Royce has announced 3,000 job losses will hit the firm’s base in Derby and the company’s Renfrewshire plant in Scotland.
The engineering giant announced last month that due to the lower demand for air travel, it would cut a total of 9,000 jobs across its global operations.
The first jobs will go through a voluntary redundancy programme that will start later this year.
Of the 3,000 UK jobs to be cut, 1,500 will be axed from headquarters in Derby, 700 of the redundancies will be in Inchinnan, a further 200 jobs at the Barnoldswick site in Lancashire, and 175 in Solihull, Warwickshire. Smaller job losses will be made at Rotherham, Washington, Heathrow and Ansty.
“Offering voluntary severance is an important step as we resize our business to adapt to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the aviation industry,” said a spokesperson for the group.
“We will, unfortunately, lose people who have worked hard to establish our world-leading position,” she added.
The Unite union’s national officer for the aerospace sector, Rhys McCarthy, said: “Today’s announcement by Rolls-Royce is another warning sign that the UK is in serious danger of losing its leading position in aerospace, in addition to losing thousands of skilled jobs.”
According to the investment bank, Baird, global air traffic is expected to decline by 45% this year. In response, Rolls-Royce announced plans to save £1.3bn. There are fears that the group may close entire factories.
The group, which globally employs 52,000 people, has said there will be no job losses in the defence business.
Shares in Rolls-Royce Holding (LON: RR) are currently trading at 321.60, down 2.01% (0926GMT).