Aerospace supplier Safran lays off 3,000 workers in Mexico

Due to the crisis that the aerospace industry is going through because of the SARS CoV 2 pandemic, which caused the covid-19 disease, the French company Safran fired 3,000 workers who worked in its plants in Mexico.

Safran's two plants in the central Mexican state of Querétaro are part of a vast network of export-focused factories that have made the country a key player in global manufacturing supply chains.

"We are facing a sharp drop in customer orders," said a Safran spokeswoman in an email to Reuters. "Unfortunately, this situation is affecting our business and we must take action to adapt to customer requests." The firm began notifying employees of the decision as early as the third week in April.

"This difficult step is proposed to preserve Safran's long-term existence in Mexico and to protect more than 10,000 jobs still active in the country," the spokeswoman added.

Companies in Mexico have been suspending operations and laying off workers in recent weeks, as government measures aimed at stopping the spread of the virus put a brake on the country's productive activity.

The National Confederation of Industrial Chambers (Concamin) estimates that some 700,000 jobs were lost between March and April, and up to 650,000 could be lost in May if the industry reopens in June, as authorities anticipate.

On Wednesday, U.S. auto parts manufacturer Yazaki North America, part of Japan-based Yazaki group, said it is reducing its workforce in Mexico by about 20 percent, which would translate into about 14,500 jobs, according to a Reuters estimate.