General Dynamics Land Systems Canada (GDLS) has cut 28 of its contract workers.
The London defence firm laid off the employees at its Oxford St. facility Tuesday and has stressed it is not a sign of tough times but part of its "normal business cycle."
"Contracts have design, production, and sustainment portions to their cycle – no work has been lost," said Doug Wilson-Hodge, manager of corporate affairs for GDLS.
The affected positions were predominantly in the engineering department.
There are indications the job losses come as the company's work to fulfill orders progresses from the engineering phase to the manufacturing phase. The last big deal the defence giant landed was in February 2017, when it was awarded a $404-million contract to upgrade 141 of the Canadian Armed Forces’ light armoured vehicles. In 2014, GDLS landed a $15-billion deal to supply armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia.
While product work continues on those existing contracts, with no new contracts the demand for engineers has likely dropped off.
Even still, there are concerns among the firm's near 2,000 employees that more cuts could be on the horizon.
"There is all sorts of rumours going around and there has been some fear that has been communicated to me by a number of members over the last few months that they believe there is layoffs coming," said Jim Reid, president of Unifor Local 27, the union that represents roughly 470 GDLS workers. "But nothing has been substantiated. I have concerns, I always have concerns when I hear rumours because often times where there is smoke, there is fire when it comes to these things."
If any unionized jobs were on the chopping block, the company would have to notify Unifor in advance as part of a contractual agreement. To date, Reid said he has received no such notification.
"I hope this is just a blip or a normal occurrence in their business cycle. I am hoping it doesn't translate into anything more," said Reid. "I really feel for the workers who have lost their jobs. It's a good economy for people with skills right now, hopefully, they land on their feet and find something else in rapid fashion."