Airbus: up to 2,500 jobs threatened, government says it will ensure no layoffs

Airbus intends to cut up to 2,500 jobs in its struggling Defense and Space branch, sources close to discussions between management and unions at the European airline said on Wednesday. The terms of these workforce reductions, in a division which currently employs some 35,000 people, were not immediately specified. For the moment, Airbus management has refused to comment.

The world number one in telecommunications satellites, Airbus is in great difficulty faced with falling demand. Just like Thales, another heavyweight in the sector which had already announced in the spring a redeployment plan within the group of 1,300 positions from its space branch Thales Alenia Space.

Airbus profits halved

Weighed down by new charges for its space activity, Airbus saw its profit halved in the first half. “Our mid-year financial performance primarily reflects the significant expenses related to our space activities. We are working to resolve the root causes of these difficulties,” declared executive president Guillaume Faury when the results were published in July.

A “transformation plan”

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 billion euros in turnover out of the 65.4 billion achieved by the band.

“We are tackling the root causes of these problems through a transformation plan, which will focus in particular on the implementation of a more selective strategy for responding to calls for tenders (…),” declared Guillaume Faury in July.

Questioned on this subject in the National Assembly this Wednesday, Minister of Industry Marc Ferracci assured that the government would closely monitor this issue. “The 2,500 jobs that are threatened are everywhere in Europe and not just in France (…). There will be no layoffs since all employees who are intended to be reclassified will be in other Airbus entities,” declared the minister during a question-and-answer session. “It is a commitment that we will follow with great attention,” he insisted, adding that employees were receiving “extremely keen attention on this extremely important issue.”