AEROSPACE giant Bombardier has confirmed it will cut 600 jobs across its operation in Northern Ireland.
Last week the Canadian-owned company said it had "made the difficult decision" to reduce the global workforce of its aviation division by around 2,500 employees.
The group said the cuts were required to reflect current market conditions and "the extraordinary industry interruptions and challenges caused by Covid-19”.
It was initially thought that just a handful of jobs were under threat in Belfast.
But following a review of its aircraft programmes in the north, Bombardier has said 400 core jobs will go over 2020 and into 2021. Another 200 agency workers will also be cut.
Around 3,300 core workers are currently employed across the company’s sites in east Belfast, Dunmurry, Newtownabbey and Newtownards.
In a statement, Bombardier said: “We have now reviewed our requirements in Belfast for all of our aircraft programmes and regret to confirm that we must adjust our core workforce levels downwards by around 400 to align with market demand for the remainder of this year and through 2021.
“Around 400 Bombardier core employee jobs in Northern Ireland are currently at risk of redundancy.
“The company will be lodging a formal HR1 redundancy notice with the Department for the Economy, following which there will be a 90-day consultation period when we will explore opportunities to mitigate the number of redundancies.
“We deeply regret the impact this will have on our workforce and their families, but it is crucial that we resize our business in line with market realities in these unprecedented circumstances.”
Susan Fitzgerald of Unite called for urgent action from the Executive. The union has said a strategy is now vital for the aerospace sector to survive the economic shockwaves of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Today’s announcement of 600 job losses is a huge blow to the Bombardier workforce, their families and the economy of Northern Ireland as a whole," she said.
"Unite will do whatever it takes to support these workers but the reality is that every worker will be going home today in uncertainty and concerned for their future."
Bombardier’s operation in Northern Ireland had been due to transfer to US-based Spirit Aerosystems in 2020 after the completion of a £1 billion deal announced at the end of October 2019.
The announcement comes just one week after Thompson Aero Seating, which makes business class seats for some of the world's biggest airlines, confirmed it will cut 500 jobs across its operations in counties Armagh and Down.
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Economy Minister Diane Dodds later urged the Westminster Government to step in to help Bombardier.
She said: "Government needs to accelerate that intervention plan.
"I have been doing everything I can to make sure that happens."
Her Economy Department will help those made redundant find other employment opportunities or retrain and up-skill.
She praised firms like Bombardier and Portadown seat manufacturer Thompson Aero Seating.
"These are companies that are research and development-orientated and export-orientated," she said.
