Brian Homewood/RIO DE JANIERO
BRAZILIAN AIRCRAFT manufacturer Embraer, privatised in late 1994, is to make 1,700 of its 5,550 employees redundant in a bid to cut costs, says president Juaraz de Siqueira Britto Wanderley.
The redundancies, most of which will be voluntary, began in June.
The bulk of the cuts will be among administrative staff, with around 1,200 job losses, and Embraer is planning to contract out services such as security and catering. Only 500 engineering jobs are to go, and none in fabrication or assembly.
Wanderley hopes that the measures will save the company, which has made heavy losses since the start of the decade, around $80 million a year.
The company has not yet announced its 1994 results, but Wanderley says that only eight EMB-120 Brasilia regional turboprops and eight EMB-312 Tucano turboprop trainers were delivered in 1994. Embraer is expecting to deliver 19 Brasilias and 28 Tucanos in 1995, he says. Priority is being given to the EMB-145 50-seat regional jet, which is due to enter service in 1996.
The company's privatisation was completed in December, with a consortium of institutional investors led by Banco Bozano Simonsen taking the majority 55.4% stake at a cost of $171 million.
Source: Flight International
