• Swindon & Wiltshire Economy
• Tuesday July 9 2024
• Author Name: Peter Davison

Jobs blow for West as Dyson announces 1,000 redundancies

Engineering firm Dyson has announced it is cutting up to 1,000 jobs – more than a quarter of its UK workforce – as part of a cost-cutting exercise.

The company, founded by entrepreneur James Dyson in Malmesbury in 1991, employs around 3,500 at offices in Wiltshire, where the former hangers at Hullavington Airfield are home to its Robotics Centre, and Bristol, where it has an IT hub and was set to open a £100 million Technology Centre focussing on software and AI.

The firm also has offices in London. Manufacturing was moved from Malmesbury to Malaysia in 2002 and its global HQ moved from Malmesbury to Singapore in 2019.

Staff were told of the cuts this morning (Tuesday, July 9).

In a statement, Dyson chief executive Hanno Kirner said the job losses were a result of the company reviewing its global structures and preparing for the future.

“We have grown quickly and, like all companies, we review our global structures from time to time to ensure we are prepared for the future,” he said.

“As such, we are proposing changes to our organisation, which may result in redundancies.”

He added: “Decisions which impact close and talented colleagues are always incredibly painful.

“Those whose roles are at risk of redundancy as a result of the proposals will be supported through the process.”

Image: Hangar 86 at Hullavington by Hydrock, reproduced under Creative Commons licence