British engine maker Rolls-Royce to axe up to 2,500 jobs
Rolls-Royce logo at the World Nuclear Exhibition (WNE), the trade fair event for the global nuclear community in Villepinte near Paris, France, June 27, 2018. (Reuters Photo)


British Rolls-Royce said on Tuesday it would cut up to 2,500 jobs as its new chief executive looks to build a more efficient business, the latest boss to attempt to revamp one of the country's most prestigious engineering companies.

Over the last decade, Rolls-Royce, whose engines and systems are used on the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 as well as ships, submarines and in power generation, has been through several restructurings, cutting over 13,000 jobs.

Tufan Erginbilgic, who took over in January, is the latest chief executive to try to tackle the company's inefficiencies. Rolls has long trailed the margins made by GE, its main competitor in the widebody aircraft sector.

In July, his operational improvements helped prompt a profits upgrade and he said there would be more to come.

On Tuesday, the company said it planned to shed up to 2,500 roles out of its total staff 42,000.

"This is another step on our multi-year transformation journey to build a high-performing, competitive, resilient and growing Rolls-Royce," he said.

As part of the new streamlining plan, Rolls-Royce said it would merge its engineering technology and safety groups. As a result, chief technology officer Grazia Vittadini will leave in April 2024.

The plan would also improve the company's procurement and supply chain management to cut costs, while finance, legal and human resources functions would be brought together across the group, creating synergies, it added.

Erginbilgic's predecessor, Warren East, launched two turnaround plans. One in 2020 aimed at surviving the pandemic, which slashed 9,000 jobs, and one in 2018, which included 4,600 redundancies.