Citing a report from newspaper Le Figaro, a Reuters report said European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company or EADS intends to reduce its workforce by cutting 5,000 to 6,000 jobs as well as sell its headquarters in Paris. The reduction and divestment are said to be part of the restructuring program of the European aerospace company.
Headquartered in Leiden in the Netherlands, EADS makes and sells commercial aircraft, civil and military helicopters, missiles, commercial space launch vehicles, satellites, military aircraft, among others. Information from Yahoo Finance said EADS' divisions include the Airbus division, Eurocopter division, Astrium division and Cassidian division.
Last month, two sources also told Reuters that the company's restructuring efforts would cut thousands of jobs. However, the reduction would not reach the 8, 000, the figure as reported by German news agency DPA. The possible 6,000 jobs that will be affected comprised 5% of the total workforce of the group, Reuters reported.
According to the Le Figaro report, EADS did not expect to lay off workers. The decision to do was because the job cuts would be made through transfers and voluntary redundancies. The employees who are already close to retiring or those whose temporary contracts are almost ending would not anymore be replaced, as disclosed in the report.
The newspaper also said that the offices of EADS in the Paris region would be reorganized. The Cassidian defense unit headquarters located in Unterschleissheim, a German city north of Munich, would be closed. It would then be transferred to Ottobrunn located further south, the report stated.
The newspaper report also said that the headquarters in Paris carries a value of about EUR 100 million or USD 136.84 million. According to analysts interviewed by the paper, EADS would be able to save EUR 300 million to EUR 500 million starting next year until 2016 because of the reorganization. Handelsblatt, a German daily, reported that the expected savings of EADS from the revamp is much higher at EUR 690 million.
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