Please find below a press release from FO Métaux union about the recent announcements at ADS.
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This October 16, at the European Committee of Airbus Defence & Space (ADS), as well as the CSE-C, the first version of the transformation plan was presented with the announcement of a workforce reduction of 2,500 people.
Management presented its transformation plan in a macroscopic manner, without providing the slightest information about the activities, scopes and skills concerned, or even the distribution by country.
FO Métaux will remain vigilant as to the impact of these measures, in particular on key skills to guarantee the future of space activity. The workforce cannot be the main adjustment variable of the Defense & Space division. If, for certain employees, the drop in activity is tangible, due to restrictions budgetary, others remain under extreme tension to honor the commitments of their entities, with risks of collateral damage, particularly in terms of psychosocial risks, which must not be underestimated.
Airbus Defense & Space is Space Systems, but also Connected intelligence, Air power, and Cybersecurity, whose employees, whether in Toulouse or Elancourt, are also involved. The plan of workforce reduction presented this October 16 therefore also raises the question of the future and the location of defence activities.
For FO Métaux, these questions go beyond the scope of Airbus and must concern all stakeholders in the space industry, but also policies regarding the preponderant and strategic place of this activity in a tense geopolitical context and a catastrophic budgetary situation, particularly in France.
It is about our sovereignty and our ability to maintain our ambitions and the very high level of essential skills to meet future challenges, particularly on environmental issues.
If hypotheses of rapprochement with other space players are not on the agenda, the reflection on the critical size with regard to the market cannot be ruled out. A true collaboration for a European champion in an area where France has leadership must finally be built.
Finally, FO Métaux takes note of the protection of space and defence activities in the Airbus group strategy. This principle must also be able to give full play to solidarity with the different entities.