Bombardier has announced it will cut another 7,500 jobs worldwide, raising fears for its British aerospace and rail workforce.
It is the second wave of job cuts announced by the Canadian manufacturer in a year, meaning it will shrink its workforce by about 20% in two years.
The multinational did not give full details of where the jobs would be lost other than 2,000 redundancies in Canada, while confirming that two-thirds of the total would be in Bombardier Transportation, the division that builds and maintains trains and track systems.
However, it is thought that the group’s Belfast operations are the most vulnerable to further cuts among its UK units. Bombardier employs 5,000 aerospace workers in Northern Ireland and has 3,400 rail staff in the UK, about half of whom are employed in a manufacturing plant in Derby.
As part of the first wave of global job cuts, the firm announced in February that just over 1,000 jobs would go over the next two years in Belfast, where the group makes the wings for its C Series passenger jet.
A spokeswoman for Bombardier in Belfast said: “Following the update today by Bombardier Inc ... we will be evaluating the impact on our Belfast operations and will communicate with our employees when that is completed. We are not in a position to elaborate further at this time.”
Bombardier said in September that it would be reducing production of the C Series, which has struggled to sell against the commercial jet duopoly of Boeing and Airbus.
Alain Bellemare, chief executive officer of Bombardier, said the latest round of cuts across the group would “ensure we have the right cost structure, workforce and organisation to compete and win in the future”.
He told Reuters: “We understand these are difficult decisions ... but in the end what we are going to be left with is a leaner, stronger organisation.” It expects to reduce costs by $300m (£245m) annually through the cuts.
The job security of Bombardier Transportation workers in the UK, particularly at Derby, has been improved by the recent confirmation of a contract to build 665 carriages for the Greater Anglia franchise, as well as orders to build new London Overground trains. The Derby plant is currently constructing trains for London’s Crossrail, which has been named the Elizabeth line.
Bombardier is also bidding to build new trains for the London Underground, and expects to be in contention for HS2’s high-speed trains to be delivered by 2026.
The RMT trade union said it was seeking firm assurances from Bombardier over the future of the Derby plant’s workers.