Senior HR staff at British Airways (BA) are facing an anxious few weeks in the run-up to Christmas and the New Year after the airline announced plans to cut its management team by 35% to save £50m.
The move, announced last week, will see a 50% reduction in senior managers, from 414 jobs to 207, and a proposed 30% reduction in middle managers, from 1,301 jobs to 911 jobs. This brings the total number of job cuts to almost 600.
These reductions will affect departments across the business, including marketing, operations and finance as well as HR, a BA spokesman confirmed.
Neil Robertson, BA’s people director, will be overseeing the changes.
Willie Walsh, BA chief executive, said: “We are restructuring the airline to remove duplication, simplify our core business and provide clearer accountability. Managers will have greater accountability for making decisions, delivering results and leading the business.”
BA plans to carry out the cuts in three phases. Phase one will see 94 of the top executives leave the business by 31 March 2006. Further reductions will be made during the next two years, with the aim of achieving the 50% target for senior managers by March 2008.
Full proposals and a timetable for achieving the planned 30% reduction in middle managers will be unveiled in Spring 2006.
