Airbus intends to cut up to 2,500 jobs in its troubled “Defense and Space” branch, Agence France-Presse learned on Wednesday, October 16, from a source close to the negotiations between management and unions. European industrial giant.
The conditions of these personnel reductions, in a division that currently employs about 35,000 people and is experiencing a drop in demand for space activities, were not immediately specified, according to this source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Airbus management declined to comment at this time.
Airbus, world number one in telecommunications satellites, is in great difficulty due to the drop in demand, as is Thales, another heavyweight in the sector, which had already announced in spring a redistribution plan within the group of 1,300 positions. its space subsidiary. , Thales Alenia Space.
Burdened by new charges for its space activity, Airbus saw its profits reduced by half in the first half. “Our mid-year financial performance primarily reflects significant expenses related to our space activities. “We are working to resolve the root causes of these difficulties.”CEO Guillaume Faury declared when results were released in July.
“Transformation plan”
The aircraft manufacturer had already warned at the end of June that it would have to make a new supply of“around 900 million euros” in the first half, linked to the review of development costs and the expected commercial prospects of certain telecommunications and satellite navigation programs. This amount was eventually reduced to €989 million as the program-by-program review continued.
In 2023, Airbus had already recorded a charge of 600 million euros in its accounts for this same space activity, which last year represented around 2,000 million euros of turnover of the 65,400 million achieved by the band.
“We are addressing the root causes of these issues through a transformation plan, which will focus in particular on implementing a more targeted tender response strategy, strengthening governance and internal control, and in terms of cost control and competitiveness”declared Guillaume Faury in July.
These re-evaluations mainly concern telecommunications and satellite navigation programs. The problem is due to the fact that these are satellites adapted to the needs of each client and produced in small quantities, preventing the efficiency gains of mass production, explains Airbus.
