NORFOLK, Va. (WVEC) -- BAE Systems has announced that 265 employees will be informed that they will be laid off by April 1.
Back in January, BAE sent WARN letters to its workforce that up to 530 employees could be laid off on March 18. That followed a reduction in force from 1,475 last September to 1,080 today, following two rounds of layoffs and attrition.
The company says recent ship contract awards and additional work on current maintenance contracts have improved the shipyard's workload and reduced the size of the layoff. Delays to the Navy's ship maintenance plan for the second half of 2016, however, may result in another round of layoffs in May.
Senator Warner released a statement to address the hundreds of layoffs:
This is difficult news for all the impacted workers and their families. We will continue to work with the Navy on ways to stabilize the workload and provide some predictability to the workforce between now and 2018, when demand for ship repair is expected to increase."
A spokesman for Senator Kaine also released a statement regarding the recent layoffs:
Senator Kaine knows how tough these 265 layoffs will be for families across Hampton Roads, but he's relieved that changes the Navy made -- at the urging of Senators Kaine and Warner -- helped prevent more than 250 additional layoffs BAE projected this year. Senator Kaine will continue pushing for more stability for the region's ship repair industry through his role on the Armed Services Committee.