Brazil’s Embraer plane maker will cut its work force by about 20 percent because the global financial crisis has sharply reduced demand for its mid-sized passenger jets and executive jets, the company said on Thursday.
Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA did not specify the precise number of posts that would be eliminated, but said the amount represents about 20 percent 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,” a statement said.
R&D UNTOUCHED
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.
REVENUE GUIDANCE
Embraer also said it was revising downward its revenue guidance for this year to US$5.5 billion, corresponding to 242 deliveries of commercial and executive jets.
The Agencia Estado news service said Embraer’s previous delivery prediction for the year was 270 jets.
Embraer said it was particularly exposed to the economic problems because “over 90 percent of its revenues are generated abroad.”
“Therefore, the resiliency that the Brazilian domestic market has been demonstrating through the crisis does not significantly alter this adverse scenario,” it said.
While Brazil has been hit by the meltdown, its economy appears to be limping along with slow growth — in contrast to the recessions for Europe and the US.
WORLDWIDE OPERATIONS
Embraer’s main production facility and headquarters are in Brazil, but it also has operations and offices in China, France, Portugal, Singapore and the US.
An Embraer spokesman said the company would not immediately provide further details about the job cuts and the statement did not say whether jobs would be eliminated outside of Brazil. He spoke on condition of anonymity.
In the US, its main market, Embraer is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It has a maintenance center in Nashville, Tennessee, and executive jet service centers in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, Mesa, Arizona, and Fort Lauderdale.
The spokesman did not know how many people Embraer employs in the US.
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a