NASHUA – BAE Systems is reducing its workforce by 300 people nationwide, and the majority of those jobs will be cut from southern New Hampshire, a spokeswoman said Monday.

The reduction impacts BAE Systems’ Electronic Systems Sector, which is headquartered in Nashua.

BAE Systems employs about 4,600 people in southern New Hampshire; 200 of those will lose their jobs in the reduction.

Along with sites on Canal Street and Spit Brook Road, BAE operates facilities in Hudson, Merrimack and Lexington, Mass.

Affected employees will be notified by March 4, according to a press release, issued by the company Monday morning.

The reductions are in response to cuts in the defense budget but also to cost pressures and the global economy, company officials said.

The cuts occur across all job disciplines and businesses, BAE spokeswoman Kristin Gossle said.

“It was not an easy decision but it was a decision the leadership felt they had to make in light of the downturn in the defense industry,” Gossle said.

The cuts are not a reaction to sequestration, she said.

“We’re always looking at our business and looking at our customers and meeting our customers needs, and making sure we have a good staffing match to meet their needs,” Gossle said.

“It’s still a big question mark,” she said of sequestration. “Like everyone else in the defense industry, we’re very concerned. … We’re looking at the overall – where we are and where we are going.”

BAE’s Electronic Systems Sector has 11,000 employees across the country. Job reductions also will be made at other facilities in Wayne, N.J.; Greenlawn and Endicott, N.Y.; Manassas, Va. and Austin, Texas.

“While unfortunate, we believe the end result of this action will be a stronger, more competitive business able to continue to meet or exceed our customers’ expectations,” the company stated in its press release about the reductions.

Employees who will lose their jobs will receive a severance package, health benefits and outplacement assistance, in line with company policy, officials said.

BAE Systems employs 37,300 people in the United States and 83,600 worldwide, serving markets in Australia, India, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom.

Maryalice Gill can be reached at 594-6490 or mgill@nashua
telegraph.com. Also, follow Gill
on Twitter (@Telegraph_MAG).

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