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       lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
       
       
       ARTICLE VIEW: 
       
       Airbus plans to cut up to 2,500 jobs in its defense and space division
       
       By Anna Cooban, CNN
       
       Updated: 
       
       11:37 AM EDT, Wed October 16, 2024
       
       Source: CNN
       
       Airbus has announced plans to slash up to 2,500 jobs in its defense
       and space division, citing a “complex business environment” marked
       by challenges including rising costs and “rapid changes in
       warfare.”
       
       The European aerospace giant, which competes with beleaguered Boeing ()
       in airplane manufacturing, said Wednesday that it expects to complete
       the layoffs by the middle of 2026. The company did not say in which
       countries the cuts — which account for around 1.7% of its total
       workforce — would be made.
       
       Mike Schoellhorn, chief executive of Airbus Defence and Space, said the
       sector — and hence the division — had faced “a fast-changing and
       very challenging business context with disrupted supply chains, rapid
       changes in warfare and increasing cost pressure due to budgetary
       constraints.”
       
       The cuts are part of broader restructuring, aimed at making the unit
       “faster, leaner and more competitive,” Schoellhorn said in a
       statement.
       
       Airbus’ announcement comes against a backdrop of a global defense and
       space industry in flux, presenting both challenges and opportunities
       for companies.
       
       Governments have ratcheted up spending on defense in recent years as
       security threats , including Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine
       in 2022. The United States is also “investing heavily” in
       space-based assets to support intelligence gathering and warfare,
       according to a report this month by analysts at Citi.
       
       But large legacy defense firms like Airbus that should benefit from the
       boom in demand face stiff competition. “A cadre of new companies have
       emerged as alternatives to traditional suppliers for the rapid
       development and deployment of ‘next generation’ capabilities,”
       the analysts wrote.
       
       The planned job cuts at Airbus are not the first sign of trouble at the
       planemaker, which, along with Boeing, dominates the global production
       of full-sized commercial jets. In June, Airbus said supply chain issues
       had forced it to the number of planes it expects to make this year and
       next.
       
       But its rival’s problems are much bigger. Boeing said earlier this
       month that it would slash 10% of its global workforce over the coming
       months. The company’s own defense business posted a $913 million loss
       in the three months to the end of June. And in September, Ted Colbert,
       the head of the unit, called Defense, Space & Security, .
       
       Boeing has racked up core operating losses of more than $33 billion
       since 2019, and has attracted the scrutiny of regulators after a string
       of severe, sometimes fatal safety lapses in recent years. About 33,000
       of its workers are also over pay and conditions.
       
       Olesya Dmitracova contributed reporting.
       
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