The British industrial group Rolls-Royce, specializing in aircraft engines, will cut up to 2,500 jobs worldwide to reduce its costs, it announced on Tuesday, October 17, in a press release. This figure represents almost 6% of its global workforce, or 42,000 people.
The 2,000 to 2,500 positions that will be eliminated are ” the next step [d’un] transformation plan that runs over several years”writes Rolls-Royce. “We are building a Rolls-Royce ready for the future. This means a leaner and more efficient organization”commented the general director, Tufan Erginbilgic, in the press release.
Restructuring unveiled Tuesday plans to bring together engineering, technology and safety functions “in one team”.
Loss of £1.6 billion
Rolls-Royce returned to profit in 2021 after a significant loss the previous year, when it suffered greatly from the pandemic and its colossal impact on the aviation sector. Then the group fell into the red again in 2022.
In August, the engine manufacturer published a group net profit of 1.2 billion pounds sterling for the first half, compared to a loss of 1.6 billion over the same period a year earlier, which was explained in particular by a heavy devaluation of foreign exchange contracts with the surge in the dollar.
Mr. Erginbilgic, who took the reins of Rolls-Royce at the start of 2023, detailed an ambitious transformation plan at the start of the year, which notably includes a strategic review in order to prioritize investments “towards the most profitable opportunities”.