Sales drop may hit jobs at BAE - Brief Article

Electronics Times, Jan 15, 2001

BAE Systems has refused to rule out cutbacks in its engineering headcount as part of a new wave of redundancies.

Analysts believe that the company's confirmation of a drop in sales, particularly for Hawk trainer aircraft, could also see capital spending reduced in areas such as R&D, even if the departments involved suffer no job cuts.

The latest redundancies follow 5300 announced last year following BAE's acquisition of the Marconi Electronic Systems defence operations. They come at a time when, apart from the Hawk's problems, BAE has finished production of the Tornado and the company is yet to ramp-up for the Eurofighter.

A spokesman said: "We are having to reduce capacity. There will be a rationalisation at sites, though not any closures, and a reduction of headcount, but [deciding] where and how many is now going on."

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