Airbus Plans to Reduce Workforce by 2,500 in the Defence and Space Sector

The European corporation Airbus has announced that it plans to cut up to 2,500 positions in its Defense and Space division. With 35,000 employees at present, the company mentioned a difficult business climate, especially about loss-making satellites. This move by the European aerospace group aims to implement workforce reduction, which constitutes 7% of the division’s employees, by the middle of 2026 following discussions with unions.

Mike Schoellhorn, Airbus Defence and Space CEO stated, “In recent years, the defense and space sector and, thus, our Division have been impacted by a fast changing and very challenging business context with disrupted supply chains, rapid changes in warfare and increasing cost pressure due to budgetary constraints. While transformation efforts initiated in 2023 have started bearing fruit, particularly on operational performance and risk management, we are now taking the next steps, not least to adjust to an increasingly difficult space market. We want to shape the Division so it can act as a leading and competitive player in this ever-evolving market. This requires us to become faster, leaner and more competitive.”

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Earlier in the year, Airbus had projected its adjusted earnings before interest and tax to be approximately €5.5 billion for the entire year, a reduction from its previous estimate of €6.5 billion to €7 billion. When stating the news of job reductions, Airbus assured its employees that it would behave as “a responsible employer,” while emphasizing the necessity of changes to maintain competitiveness. The company stated that it would make use of all available social measures to minimize the impact of the reductions.