June 14 (UPI) -- Engineering firm Rolls-Royce announced plans Thursday to cut 4,600 jobs over the next two years as part of a major restructuring effort.
Rolls Royce said in a statement the cuts would predominantly impact Britain, where the majority of the company's corporate and support operations are based.
A third of the jobs will be cut by the end of this year, while the full scope of changes will be made by mid-2020. With the cuts, Rolls-Royce expects to save $535 million by 2020.
"It is never an easy decision to reduce our workforce, but we must create a commercial organization that is as world-leading as our technologies," Rolls-Royce CEO Warren East said. "To do this we are fundamentally changing how we work."
The company said it plans to focus on civil aerospace, defense and power systems.
The cuts come as Rolls Royce seeks smaller and more cost-effective corporate and support functions.
"A traditionally heavily centralized control culture will be replaced by empowered businesses, in a simpler, leaner structure with much clearer accountabilities," the company said. "This will foster quicker decision-making throughout the organization."
East told BBC News most of the job cuts will be made in Derby, where most management positions are based.
