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Airbus is certainly engaged in an outsourcing programme with Power8. Saying it makes "layoffs unlikely" is weasel language, since the Power8 plan includes (from 2007 to 2012) an overall workforce reduction of 10,000, with a 3,300-job downsizing under way at Airbus Toulouse.

Airbus CEO Louis Gallois:
Power8 prepares way for "New Airbus"

"We cannot continue to produce at our current Euro costs and sell at Boeing's dollar prices,"

so (same document):

A large part of the cost savings will be achieved through reducing the total Airbus overhead workforce (including temporary and on-site supplier workforce) by 10,000.

Subcontractors are also being substantially reduced. That's happening in a fairly complicated way I haven't got a handle on. But production is being outsourced to dollar zone and low-labour-cost countries.

So "layoffs" are "unlikely" essentially because they've already been made.

(It would be interesting to see what Melanchthon has to say, he may know more about this than I do. Also our much-regretted friend Elco B, where are you, Elco?)

As to EU or government attitudes, they've always been broadly supportive of Power8 afaik. Only if the crisis really began causing a lot more trouble would I expect Sarkozy to step in, and more likely on his hobby horse of "the euro is too dear". In other words, not in favour of good French-German coordination on this...

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sat Jan 17th, 2009 at 02:46:01 AM EST

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