Luxury car maker to cut 40 jobs

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Rolls-Royce is cutting 40 temporary jobs at its West Sussex headquarters because of the economic downturn.

The luxury carmaker, which employs about 900 workers at the factory in Goodwood, will also stop production for four weeks starting before Christmas.

The company said it had been "reasonably insulated" from the downturn but was taking "prudent steps" in response to softening sales.

The measures were intended to allow "production flexibility".

In a statement the firm said: "We are, however, beginning to see a softening in sales in a number of regions and as a consequence are adjusting our production accordingly.

"We are taking a number of immediate and prudent steps, including a reduction in temporary staff and adding non-production days to our programme."

The company is in "good shape" with continued growth in the first three quarters of the year and there were no plans to make permanent staff redundant, it added.

Dave Osborne, national officer of the Unite union said: "Sadly, it looks like even Rolls-Royce is not immune to the global downturn.

"Unite has been asked to attend a national level meeting next week, which we will of course be attending, to learn more about the difficulties the company is facing at this present time."