Former Enterprise Minister Sir Reg Empey has welcomed the news that Shorts has reversed its decision to cut jobs in January.

Management at Northern Ireland's largest manufacturing firm warned in October that up to 560 jobs could go - in two tranches between January and July - as result of problems in the airline industry, however a statement from the company has confirmed that there are currently no plans calling for compulsory redundancies before the end of April.

In a statement, the aerospace firm said that the jobs situation had been reviewed following a greater uplift in the business jets sector and repatriation of work, as well as mitigation with unions.

Responding to the statement, Sir Reg said: “It is a pleasant change for the workforce to get some better news before Christmas as in recent years there has been a bleak outlook at this time of year.

“While this news must be welcomed, it must also be acknowledged that the market still remains volatile. But government support for Bombardier’s new C Series programme – which I raised with the Prime Minister in Downing Street last week – would go a long way to keeping the order book filled, and so underline the necessity of maintaining headcount among Shorts’ dedicated workforce.”

However, despite the good news, management at Shorts have warned that current developments may not hold because of “volatile” market conditions.

“We still envisage a potential manpower surplus later in 2005, and this will be kept under continual review,” the statement added.

(MB/SP)