THERE are fears for hundreds more manufacturing jobs in the north after Belfast aerospace specialist Bombardier signalled that it is preparing to "adjust" its workforce.
The Canadian-owned company's aviation division said it had "made the difficult decision" to reduce its global workforce by around 2,500 employees (it has a total of 60,000 employees across two business segments).
It said the adjustment is necessary to align with current market conditions reflecting the extraordinary industry interruptions and challenges caused by Covid-19.
And a spokesman for its Belfast operation warned: "In light of this, we are now reviewing requirements for our Northern Ireland operations for all our aircraft programmes.
"We will communicate any impact in due course, and we have no announcement to make at this time.”
Bombardier currently employs around 3,300 permanent staff in the north, and the fear is that several hundred workers could now face redundancy.
The announcement comes 24 hours after Thompson Aero Seating in Craigavon raised the spectre of 500 job losses as the aviation sector faces decimation in the wake of the pandemic.
Manufacturing NI also warned that next week's cut-off for the Government’s furlough scheme will trigger more significant job culls in the coming weeks.
In a statement issued in Montreal, Bombardier said: "When the pandemic first arose we responded quickly, suspending manufacturing operations to support local government efforts to slow the spread of the virus and to protect the health and safety of employees, partners and customers.
"Over the past month, Bombardier Aviation, guided by health professionals and industry best practices, implemented comprehensive procedures and safeguards to further protect employees and communities as manufacturing operations resumed.
"But with business jet deliveries, industry-wide, forecast to be down approximately 30 per cent year-over-year due to the pandemic, Bombardier must adjust its operations and workforce to ensure that it emerges from the current crisis on solid footing.
"Accordingly, we have made the difficult decision to reduce its workforce by approximately 2,500 employees. The majority of these reductions will impact manufacturing operations in Canada and will be carried out progressively throughout 2020.
"Bombardier’s worldwide customer service operations have continued to operate largely uninterrupted throughout the pandemic."
The company said it expects to record a special charge of approximately $40 million in 2020 for this workforce adjustment and will provide further information on its market outlook when it reports its second quarter financial results on August 6.
