Brazil's Embraer plane maker will cut its work force by about 20 per cent because the global financial crisis has sharply reduced demand for its mid-sized passenger jets and executive jets, the company has said.
Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA did not specify the precise number of posts that will be eliminated, but said yesterday the amount represents about 20 per cent of its global work force of 21,362 people.
The company said its decision to cut costs and jobs was forced by a "the new reality of demand for commercial and executive aircraft," according to a statement.
Most of the job losses will hit Embraer's production and administrative units, including a layer of management that the company did not describe in detail. But most engineering posts will be maintained to develop new products and technology, Embraer said.
The company is the world's fourth-largest plane maker after US-based Boeing Co, Europe's Airbus and Canada's Bombardier Inc. Most of its workers are employed in Brazil.
Embraer also said it was revising downward its revenue guidance for 2009 to $5.5 billion, corresponding to 242 deliveries of commercial and executive jets.
The Agencia Estado news service said Embraer's previous 2009 delivery prediction was for 270 jets.
