Airbus announced this Wednesday to reduce the number of job cuts, particularly in its satellite producing branch, with 2,043 cuts instead of 2,500 announced in October. The industrial giant explained that it had to adapt to “a difficult context for the activity” of this Defense & Space (D&S) branch, which is weighing down its financial performance.
With these job cuts planned by mid-2026, Airbus wants to “rationalize (its) organization to improve competitiveness in the future”. They represent 5% of a division which currently has some 35,000 employees. The group told the unions that it would cut 689 jobs in Germany, 540 in France, 477 in the United Kingdom, 303 in Spain, and 34 in other countries. Airbus management reiterated that no forced departure was planned and promised to work to “limit the social effects” of this decision.
“A very difficult business climate”
The world number one in telecommunications satellites, Airbus has been affected for several years “by a very difficult and rapidly changing business climate, with disruptions in supply chains, changes in the conduct of conflicts and pressure on costs. due to budgetary constraints,” Michael Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus D&S, explained in October.
-Thales, another heavyweight in the sector, announced in the spring a redeployment plan within the group of 1,300 positions from its space branch Thales Alenia Space. Weighed down by new charges for its space activity, Airbus saw its profit halved in the first half. But the third quarter was in the green: net profit came to 983 million euros, an increase of 22% over one year.
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