Rolls-Royce to layoff 2,500 in CEO’s ‘fit for the future’ plan

British engineering giant Rolls Royce is all set to lay off about 2,500 people as part of a cost-cutting drive by Tufan Erginbilgic, the company's new CEO, Reuters reported. The latest job cuts will cover about 6% of the entire staff.

“We are building a Rolls-Royce that is fit for the future. That means a more streamlined and efficient organisation that will deliver for our customers, partners and shareholders,” Guardian quoted Erginbilgic as saying.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rolls Royce was among the corporations that let go of a large number of employees. Currently, the company employs about 42,000. About half of them are in Britain, 11,000 in Germany and 5,500 in the United States.

According to a Bloomberg report, the recent layoff is targeted at the global white-collar workforce, which also includes senior management. not all details have been confirmed by the organisation yet. As part of this step, the chief technology officer, Grazia Vittadini, will also leave the company in April 2024, said Rolls Royce.

The Bloomberg report also said that CEO Erginbilgic is attempting to get deeper into the company by modulating and switching some key management positions, including the head of the civil engine subsidiary. Simon Burr, a senior manager at the civil aerospace subsidiary, will join the executive team as part of the shift, said the company.

Tufan Erginbilgic, a former British Petroleum top executive, had said that Rolls Royce was a “burning platform” in January this year. Things have got a bit better for the company in the subsequent months with the stock price going up, buoyed by the uptick in global travel. This has also revamped the demand for large aircraft like the Airbus A350, for which Rolls-Royce is the sole supplier.