Derbyshire workers face uncertain future as Rolls-Royce plans to ‘cut up to 8,000 jobs’

The Financial Times said the company – whose civil aerospace business is headquartered in Sinfin in Derbyshire – is planning to cut its workforce by as many as 8,000 as a result of aircraft makers Airbus and Boeing reducing production to cope with a fall in global air travel triggered by the pandemic.

MORE: Coronavirus in Derbyshire community live blog: stories close to home

Steve Turner, assistant general secretary for manufacturing at the Unite union, said: “We say to Rolls-Royce today, step back from drastic, short-term responses and work with us to shape a positive future for a world-class business, our highly-skilled workforce and our communities.

“Help us to deliver a Government-led industrial strategy to build our way out of this crisis and meet the challenges of the future.

“These are unprecedented times.

“We understand the challenges to our industries from Covid-19 and the impact of Government measures to protect public health on both the immediate and longer-term outlook for manufacturing as well as the wider economy.

"However, at a time when we are working hard to protect jobs and businesses through this pandemic with pay protection, Government loans and other industry specific packages backed by the Bank of England, right now we are asking Rolls-Royce, along with others across manufacturing, to hold firm and defer from short-term reactions that will both damage the economy and undermine our ability to emerge from this with job security and consumer confidence intact.”

A Rolls-Royce spokesperson described the the pandemic as ‘unprecedented’ and added: “We have taken swift action to increase our liquidity, dramatically reduce our spending in 2020, and strengthen our resilience in these exceptionally challenging times.

“But we will need to take further action.

“We have promised to give our people further details of the impact of the current situation on the size of our workforce before the end of this month.”

The spokesperson added that negotiations were ongoing and the company has pledged to ‘consult with everyone affected’.

MORE: Chesterfield residents urged to mark 75th anniversary of VE Day from home