Workers at the Sikorsky Aircraft Company have found out that a portion of their co-workers are going to be let go. The company made an announcement that it was going to cut down on its workforce by roughly 3% of the total number of workers. The company is making the cuts because it is expecting to have less funding coming in from the U.S. Department of Defense than it did in  previous years.

While the employees were notified as soon as possible the company has not actually gotten word yet about how much money they will be receiving from the U.S. Department of Defense, so it may turn out that the cuts were not needed, or if the amount is significantly less than expected, the company may have to make more cuts than they have already. Notifications went out to the workers of the Stratford-based aircraft company last Friday according to a spokesperson for the company.

As is the case with many companies in the current economic climate this is not the first time that they have let go of workers in order to stay in the black. This is the second time that the company has chosen to let go of staff in the past few months. In September of this year the company reduced it workforce by three percent, making this the second time that the company has made a cut of that magnitude.

The first round of layoffs cut 567 workers from the payroll and the current wave of layoffs is expected to get rid of about 500 more company employees, according to numbers released by the Connecticut Post. This means that in the last couple of months the company has let go of more than 1000 workers. Unlike in previous rounds of layoffs, where it was primarily workers that were being paid by the hour who took the brunt of the job losses, it is likely that this round will focus on employees with a fixed annual salary.

A representative for the company has the following to say about the terms under which the workers will be leaving, “However, to mitigate the impact, the company is offering all eligible salaried and non-represented hourly employees a voluntary separation package,” this package does have a few limitations. It is only available to workers who are 55 or older. It is only being offered to workers who have been with the company for a minimum of 10 years, and executives are not eligible for the program, even if they were able to meet the other conditions of the severance package.

In a statement to the media U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro had the following to say about the layoffs. “The company maintains that these cuts are critical to ensuring they remain competitive and part of their long-term plan,” DeLauro said. “I was just at the Sikorsky plant last month with Norway’s ambassador to help foster future sales for the company. I believe that we need the company to continue growing over the long-term to ensure that Connecticut remains a place for good, highly skilled middle class jobs in Connecticut. I will continue working with the company to keep jobs in the state, and to determine the best way forward.”