BAE is laying off workers just months after acquiring Ball Aerospace – BizWest

BAE Systems Inc. Space & Mission Systems, a Broomfield-based subsidiary of British defense contractor BAE Systems PLC, recently laid off workers at the Colorado company, which launched its $5.5 billion presence in Boulder Valley in February acquisition of Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp.confirmed to BizWest.

BAE leaders told reporters in February – just after finalizing the deal with Ball Aerospace – that it was no major job cuts were planned.

“I can confirm that we have had several layoffs recently. Unfortunately, sometimes as a result of changes in customer schedules as programs ebb and flow through the factory, we have to make small-scale changes to staffing, which was the case here,” a BAE spokesperson told BizWest in an email. “While these decisions are difficult, they are rare and are made to better support operations so that we can continue to meet the needs of our customers.”

BAE did not immediately provide BizWest with detailed information on the number of layoffs, the locations of affected employees (BAE operates locally at its headquarters in Broomfield, a manufacturing plant in Westminster and at the former Ball Aerospace’s large campus in Boulder) or the types of layoffs. jobs that have been eliminated.

With the acquisition, approximately 5,000 former Ball employees moved to BAE.

During a February media event, the president of BAE Systems Inc. Space & Mission Systems Dave Kaufman said the company does not intend to make significant staff changes.

“We have invested billions in facilities, opportunities and people in Colorado. The acquisition meant the acquisition of this investment. We are absolutely staying in Colorado,” he said.

The sale to BAE “will not really impact our staffing plans,” Kaufman said. “We operated as a separate division of Ball Corp. here in Colorado, and now we will operate as the same separate division that is part of another larger corporation.”

The BAE acquisition is “an opportunity for us to expand our presence in Colorado and beyond,” Kaufman said. “…We are focused on growth, not consolidation.”

In February, BizWest asked Kaufman whether BAE’s Space & Mission Systems workforce in February 2025 would be more or less than the approximately 5,000 employees at Ball Aerospace in Colorado at the time of the acquisition. “I would say more,” he replied.