Airbus Layoffs 2024: Avation Major Cuts 2000 Jobs - Is There An Elon Musk Connection?

Airbus opens new tab announced just over 2,000 job cuts in Defence and Space, or about 5 per cent of its second-largest division, as it reels from U.S. competition in the satellites sector. Still, the cuts were not as severe as the European group had first warned.
Europe's largest aerospace group said more than half of the 2,043 total job reductions, affecting 1,128 positions, will fall in the Space Systems business following heavy losses on satellites. The group added that there would be no compulsory redundancies.

Airbus: Not The First Time Jobs Are Cut

Airbus builds satellites and transporters and has key shares in European missile, fighter, and space-launch programmes. It brought forward a statement confirming the figures after Reuters reported the cuts, following the first of two days of closed-door briefings for the aerospace company's unions on the results of a lengthy efficiency review. In October, Airbus announced plans to cut up to 2,500 jobs in Defence and Space, or 7 per cent of the workforce, after 1.5 billion euros of writedowns in satellites led by troubled OneSat. In the plans outlined to unions on Wednesday and later confirmed by the company, Airbus is cutting 250 jobs in its Air Power or combat aircraft sub-division and 47 in Connected Intelligence. The divisional headquarters will shed 618 posts.

Airbus: Europe's Struggling Space Sector

Europe's top satellite makers have traditionally focused on complex spacecraft in geostationary orbit but have been hit by the arrival of cheap tiny satellites in low Earth orbit, led by the runaway growth of Elon Musk 's Starlink constellation. The job cuts are separate from proposals reported by Reuters on Tuesday to forge a new European satellite champion pooling activities of Airbus, Thales and Leonardo to help compete with Starlink, code-named "Project Bromo". Put together, they represent a multi-speed effort to bring Europe's struggling space sector into shape to face competition. The job cuts are due to be implemented by mid-2026 and aim overheads and fixed costs by focusing mainly on white-collar and management positions, rather than operational ones.