US aerospace firm Pratt & Whitney cuts around 400 jobs at S'pore office

This number represents around a fifth of its over 2,000-strong workforce locally.

Ashley Tan | August 03, 2020, 06:15 PM

American aerospace manufacturer Pratt & Whitney has laid off a number of workers due to the significant impact Covid-19 has had on the aviation industry.

The firm manufactures aircraft engines.

Prolonged recovery for aviation sector led to decision to retrench

In a joint statement with the Singapore Industrial and Employees Union (SISEU), which Pratt & Whitney is unionised under, the firm that most of its facilities around Singapore were affected as part of its retrenchment exercise.

The company's headcount will be reduced by under 20 per cent.

However, the firm said that this will affect fewer locals, and the Singapore core will continue to form around 77 per cent of the workforce after the exercise.

This number represents around a fifth of its over 2,000-strong workforce locally. The firm has been operating in Singapore for 37 years.

The firm forecasted that it would take until 2023 "at the earliest" for the aviation industry to recover to pre-Covid-19 levels.

However, previous reports have predicted that global air travel is only likely to return to business-as-usual in 2024.

This "prolonged recovery level" is what forced the firm's "difficult but necessary decision".

The retrenchment exercise was a "last resort", and took place after the firm implemented various cost-containment measures such as temporary salary reductions, shorter work weeks, cancellation of merit increases, hiring freezes and discretionary spending cuts.

Pratt & Whitney has been working with SISEU and NTUC since April on these measures.

Affected employees to receive retrenchment package and training grant

Aside from retrenchment packages for affected employees, SISEU requested for the firm to provide these individuals with a one-off training grant to help them upskill.

Employees who are union members will also receive paid NTUC union membership until the end of 2020.

The membership comes with benefits such as union bursary awards, financial relief under NTUC care and support programmes, insurance coverage, and personal development and training assistance amongst others.

The firm will also continue to support course-related expenses for all affected employees on its Employee Scholar Program—which allows employees to continue their education in any field—for 12 months after their departure.

Additionally, SISEU will also work with NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) to arrange for affected employees to attend job fairs and employability workshops.

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