Bombardier employees face further uncertainty

Employees at Bombardier in Belfast face further uncertainty after it was reported the company would cut a further 7,500 jobs, or 10% of their global workforce.

Business publication Bloomberg reported that the Canadian aerospace firm were "accelerating a restructuring plan" after taking on billions of dollars of business debt as they developed their new C-Series jetliner.

The company released a statement saying it would be "evaluating the impact" of the news and would "communicate with our employees when that is completed".

In February, the company announced it would be shedding over 1,000 jobs in a two-year period.

They later brought forward 95 redundancies at its Belfast site, which had been planned for 2017.

Davy Thompson from the union Unite said: "We are deeply concerned that these job losses could affect the Belfast workforce as it is involved in every Bombardier line of production.

"The job losses amount to one-in-ten of their global workforce, but there is no further information about what this will mean for Belfast."

He added: “Our members can be assured that Unite will work over the coming period to minimise any potential job-losses here and, if necessary, we will strive to deliver the best possible outcome for those affected.

"We can only hope that today’s announcement will mean the company is better positioned to achieve long-term growth and safeguard future employment."