LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Rolls-Royce said it would cut at least 9,000 jobs as part of a plan to save more than £1.3bn a year in response to the "unprecedented" impact of the Covid-19 crisis on the aviation industry.
The FTSE 100 engine maker said the job cuts from its global workforce of 52,000 would fall mainly on the civil aerospace business and that it would also review the division's facilities.

The job cuts will save about £700m a year and the restructuring will also reduce spending on plant and property, capital and other areas. The cost of the programme will be about £800m over three years.

Rolls-Royce said it had already taken steps to reduce spending during the crisis but that it was now clear that it will take several years for commercial aerospace to pre-crisis levels. Airline fleets have been grounded and the industry is struggling to find ways to survive new norms on social distancing and a deep recession.

Warren East, Rolls-Royce's chief executive, said: "Being told that there is no longer a job for you is a terrible prospect and it is especially hard when all of us take so much pride in working for Rolls-Royce. But we must take difficult decisions to see our business through these unprecedented times."



East said the company's central support functions would also lose jobs. The defence division has been unaffected by the crisis and does not require job cuts, he said. While talks with unions go on the company will not discuss which sites or countries will be affected.

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