Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
The aircraft manufacturer Airbus has announced a worldwide restructuring plan to cope with the COVID-19 crisis. In total, the group wants to cut around 15,000 posts by the summer of 2021. This is an even greater reduction than that carried out under the restructuring plan known as 'Power 8', which already provided for 10,000 job cutsin 2017. The cuts will take place almost exclusively in the commercial aviation branch, which employs 81,000 of the company's 135,000 employees. Airbus plans to cut 5,000 jobs in France, 5,100 in Germany, 1,700 in the United Kingdom, 900 in Spain and 1,300 at other sites in the rest of the world, notably in China and the United States, where the European aircraft manufacturer has set up assembly plants. Finally, these staff reductions include a little over 900 job cuts already decided at Premium Aerotec, a subsidiary of the group in Germany. These job cuts 'are the biggest job cuts Airbus has ever made' the CEO acknowledged. According to him, the group could not avoid it, while '40% of [its] business has disappeared'. By the end of April, US rival Boeing had already announced 16,000 job cuts, or 10% of its workforce.
Out of the 10,000 job cuts announced in 2007, several other EU or worldwide reorganisation have been recorded during the years, with 3,000 job creations in 2011, 1,164 job cuts in 2016 (and 230 job creations), 3,700 job cuts in 2018 and recently, 2,362 job cuts in its division Defence and Space.
Eurofound (2020), Airbus, Internal restructuring in World, factsheet number 101147, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/101147.