Bosses at Vector Aerospace have been hammered over their handling of this week’s announcement of significant job losses at their flagship Perthshire plant.
Around 30 jobs are set to go at the Almondbank site 10% of the workforce.
Employees said the announcement of losses had come “totally out of the blue.”
The move was also slammed by politicians, including Perth MSP Roseanna Cunningham and Perth and North Perthshire MP Pete Wishart.
They met Ian Burnett, director of Vector’s component services division, on Thursday to discuss the firm’s future plans.
Ms Cunningham later said the axing of staff, which came just four weeks after bosses announced threatened jobs had been secured, “could have been handled better.”
“We had a full discussion with Vector’s representatives regarding the current situation and their management restructuring,” she said.
“While still regretting the recent job losses, we leave with a clearer understanding of what they are trying to do.
“However, their communication on that matter could have been handled far better,” she added.
With the contents of next week’s strategic defence review still shrouded in mystery, Ms Cunningham said there remains “real concern” for remaining staff at Almondbank.
“We moved on to discuss the strategic defence review, which is to be published on Tuesday,” the MSP continued.
“There is a great deal of sensitivity about this issue, as nobody is absolutely certain what it will contain but there is little doubt that it will impact in some way on the work that Vector does.
“There is real concern about the scale of the review and its potential impact on Almondbank.
“We have agreed to meet again shortly after the actual publication to discuss those implications.”
Despite the doom and gloom, Ms Cunningham insists there are reasons to be cheerful.
“I remain hopeful for the future here at Almondbank,” she said.
“This remains a very important facility with an incredibly skilled workforce.”
Mr Wishart was similarly upset following this week’s announcement of redundancies.
“I am extremely disappointed for those who are losing their jobs,” the MP said.
“Almondbank is a key employer in the area and any loss of jobs is sorely felt.
“Conditions are far from benign for anyone involved in the defence industry, and Vector is no exception to that with the possible implications of the UK Government’s strategic defence review very much in the forefront of everyone’s mind.”
Mr Wishart pledged to fight on in a bid to ensure the Almondbank workforce “survives the worst” of any imminent cuts.
“Vector provides a first-class service to both the military and commercial services, and I was pleased to learn that they are looking at a variety of different proposals for further diversification in the future,” he continued.
“That is a very important direction for Vector to take, because as needs change, companies need to change, too.
“Roseanna and I will continue to take a very keen interest in developments in the defence industry and how they affect our constituents at Almondbank.
“I very much hope that Almondbank survives the worst of the expected Westminster defence cuts.”