The aerospace industry has usually thrived in Northern Ireland, but now multiple international firms based here are cutting staff due to the coronavirus crisis.
US manufacturing giant Raytheon Technologies employs almost 1,000 people at its Collins Aerospace seat factory in Kilkeel, but last week announced it would be eradicating 235 of these jobs – almost a quarter of the workforce.
BBC News NI reported it is probably the biggest private sector employer in south County Down.
Chinese-owned Thompson Aero Seating employs equally large numbers at its Portadown and Banbridge premises, but also announced plans last month to lay off up to 500 employees.
Recently a fire broke out at Bombardier’s Belfast factory, and the aircraft manufacturer also announced 600 jobs losses within its NI operations.
The Canada-based business currently employs around 3,600 people across Northern Ireland, and its NI division was sold to US firm Spirit AeroSystems in October 2019 for almost £1bn.
Spirit AeroSystems too has made a series of job cuts at its US operations including 900 temporary lay-offs in June.
RELATED: Consumer confidence is slowly rising again, says Danske Bank
The government furlough scheme has been paying staff up to 80% of their wages, but the deadline for this initiative is looming for the end of October.
Firms need to act now if they believe their workforce needs to be reduced because large scale redundancies must be preceded by three-months of consultation with staff and their union representatives, by law.
Kieran Ellison, Unite union regional officer, criticised the UK’s approach to the sector as being a "patchwork of initiatives" compared to Germany and France’s more strategic measures.
He added: "Aerospace has played a major role in the economy, supporting not just every type the of local business through wages earned but also in taxes for the government. With the right support that saves jobs and skills it will repay that money back in a relative short space of time."
RELATED: InterTradeIreland: '53% of businesses in decline across Ireland'
In better news, despite Flybe going into administration in March, various other airlines have recently announced they will replace certain routes and base more planes at Belfast City’s airport.
The airport relied on Flybe for around 80% of its services, but with the help of Loganair, Eastern Airways, Aer Lingus and Stobart Air, all routes have now been replaced with the exception of a service to Cardiff.
Positive news also arose in May, when Newry engineering firm, the Exact Group became the first company across the island of Ireland to get a silver award on the Aerospace Supply Chain Programme, SC21, on its first engagement. SC21 is one of the largest supply chain improvement programmes in the UK’s aerospace and defence sector.
In 2014, a regional ten-year strategy for the aerospace, defence, security and space industry in Northern Ireland was launched.
Its aim is to double the annual turnover in the sector from £1bn to £2bn while also increasing employment by 50% by 2024.
By 2016, NI’s aerospace industry had grown by 30%, and the sector is now worth almost £2bn – well ahead of the 2024 original target - but it is unclear how business will fare out in a post-Covid and post-Brexit climate.
Sources: BBC News NI
