Thales Australia axes 50 jobs

The cuts are about one fifth of the factories workforce, which employs 250 people. Bendigo MP Steve Gibbons told local media that the cuts are because the company failed to win a contract to build Bushmaster vehicles for the Australian Army. He criticized the Defence Materiel Organisation for its inability to negotiate affectively. A Thales spokesperson quoted in the bendigo advertiser said lower production rate at the plant would affect staff numbers . ”For the next two to three years we will have a lower production rate than in the past, and that will mean a reduction in our workforce," the spokesperson said. Most of the cuts would be made on the sales floor.