DOZENS of jobs are set to be cut by BAE systems in Scotland it has been announced, just weeks after a £10 billion warship deal was struck.
Management staff in Govan and Scotstoun were told there would be an organisational overhaul on the naval ships arm of the business, with 116 roles under threat across the whole UK.
According to The Times, workers were emailed on Wednesday at 8am and told there would be an important announcement that morning, with Simon Lister, the managing director of the naval ships business at BAE systems, later telling staff that there would be redundancies.
“No one saw this coming,” a staff member told the newspaper.
It comes after Norway placed a £10bn order for Type 26 frigates designed for anti-submarine warfare at the Glasgow yard.
The UK Government said last month that the deal would support 2000 jobs at BAE Systems Glasgow shipyards “well into the 2030s”, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying the deal would support “well-paid jobs up and down the United Kingdom, from apprentices to engineers”.
BAE confirmed management roles were being scrapped across the naval ships business, which includes sites in Portsmouth, Frimley and Filton.
“We’ve undertaken a review to consider how we reshape and modernise the operations of our naval ships business following considerable investment in our infrastructure in recent years,” a spokesperson from BAE Systems said.
“Whilst we expect the overall size of the business to continue to grow, we’ll now commence consultation to potentially reduce our executive population by up to 116 roles.
"We’ll work alongside our employee representative groups to do everything we can to support our colleagues, including exploring potential opportunities in other areas of the company.
“In the meantime, our focus remains on delivering for our customers.”
BAE said it will aim to minimise the number of compulsory redundancies by moving some staff into other positions across the company.
Last month, Norway placed an order for five Type-26 frigates, to add to the eight being built for the Royal Navy.
The company currently has a £3.7bn contract with the Navy for three frigates, signed in 2017, and a further £4.2bn deal for five more frigates, signed in 2022.
The first vessel will be named HMS Glasgow, and is expected to be handed over to the Navy next year.
