Rolls-Royce job cuts

has announced that it proposes to cut 140 staff at its Derby Assembly and Test facility, which forms part of the international company’s Civil Aerospace business.

The announcement is the first stage of a larger programme designed to reduce capacity in line with the expected load in its facilities. Similarly, the company said it has been assessing the impact of current economic difficulties, delays on individual programmes, such as the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 787, and overall improvements to efficiency across the company.

Overall, Rolls-Royce expects to cut around 1,500 to 2,000 jobs from its 39,000 global workforce in 2009. This accounts for around four per cent of the company’s employees, 60 per cent of which work in the UK.

According to the group, these proposals will have no effect on its 2008 financial guidance with 2009 costs balanced by savings achieved throughout the year.

Rolls Royce’s chief executive, Sir John Rose, said: ‘We are determined to maintain our focus on cost reduction and competitiveness as the world economy enters a challenging period.

‘It is too early to determine the precise effects of the global economic downturn and programme delays. However, we wanted to give all our employees an early indication of the likely scale of the job reductions we expect in 2009.’