HUNDREDS of job losses at BAE Systems will be found by volunteers and people taking early retirement, according to unions.
The defence giant, which employs 4,000 in Samlesbury, is axing 270 positions at the plant and another 970 in Warton, on the Fylde coast.
However, unions are confident that 258 job losses in the manual population, who work on major projects like Eurofighter Typhoon and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, will be found without compulsory redundancies.
The firm’s consultation with unions over the job cuts ended last week.
A company announcement on whether the redundancy process is now ‘closed’ is expected early next week.
Phil Entwistle, all-union convenor at Samlesbury, said: “We are confident that through people taking early retirement and voluntary redundancy, we have got to the 258 target.
“As a union, we believe there will be no compulsories, which is good news.”
The remainder of the redundancies will come from BAE’s staff and executive divisions.
BAE said: “The company is still consulting with the trade unions and employee representatives about potential job losses at a number of our sites.”
The job losses are linked to BAE’s work on the Nimrod and Harrier projects, which were axed last year.
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