Aeroplane manufacturer Airbus is cutting 10,000 jobs across Europe over the next four years.
About 1,600 jobs will go in the UK, with the firm ruling out compulsory redundancies.
More than 10% of jobs at the firm’s factories in Filton, Bristol, and Broughton, North Wales are set to go.
Airbus chief executive Louis Gallois said the firm was “facing huge challenges” and “was not efficient enough”.
France will be worst hit with 4,300 job losses. Germany will see 3,700 jobs axed, and 400 jobs will go in Spain.
Union officials expressed anger at the scale of the cuts.
The head of the European Metalworkers Federation, Peter Scherrer, said: “We totally oppose the closure of any site and we won’t accept any firings.”
