BAE Systems Submarines in Barrow has revealed it will create an additional 280 jobs this year, adding to its already 5,000-strong workforce.
According to the North-West Evening Mail, the 280 new positions will include 100 professional engineers, 30 designers, 30 test and commissioning engineers and 50 project managers.
John Hudson, Managing Director, BAE Systems Maritime – Submarines said the company had achieved many “notable successes” over the last 12 months which has allowed them to reach a position to take on more staff.
“There is now a greater degree of stability and our performance against key milestones continues to improve on previous years. The successor programme to design a replacement for the Vanguard class is gaining momentum and to that end one of the business’s key objectives for 2012 remains the recruitment of professional engineers.”
As reported earlier this week, the defence giant’s 2011 sales figures revealed sales fell by 14% and net debt increased from £242m in 2010 to £1.4bn last year.
BAE said defence spending had reduced in its largest markets while the lower sales were also in part due to delays on large programmes.
The group’s chief executive Ian King said: “BAE Systems has delivered a robust underlying performance in a challenging business environment. This has enabled the board to increase the dividend by 7.4 per cent, in addition to the £2.2bn returned to shareholders in the past two years.
“The group’s strategy has established a resilient platform for the future as we grow our international, cyber and electronics businesses and drive value from our positions in the services sector and on key programmes.”
