Britain's Rolls-Royce is set to cut at least 9,000 jobs from its 52,000-strong global workforce, with the COVID-19 crisis expected to drastically reduce the aviation market. 

Rolls-Royce is one of the UK's best known engineering companies, supplying engines for large aircraft such as the Boeing 787 and the Airbus A350. The 9,000 jobs will go predominantly from Rolls's civil aerospace business, which generates just over half of its £15.45 billion ($18 billion) annual revenue.

"This is about adjusting our capacity to meet future demand," Rolls-Royce CEO Warren East told the BBC.

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Executives hope to keep profits intact by laying off workers and closing factories in the company's civil aerospace unit.

Cutting 17 percent of its workforce means the company can save £1.3 billion ($1.59 billion) a year, as it reduces spending on plant, property and capital costs.

About two-thirds of Rolls-Royce's civil aerospace jobs are in the UK, with its headquarters in the city of Derby. East said the UK was "probably a good first proxy" of where workers were likely to be laid off.

Unions are now in consultation with management, with job losses also expected at its central support functions. The company's defense unit is not expected to cut any of its workers. 

About £700 million ($979.7 million) of the future annual savings will come from reducing the workforce, Rolls said. Still, the initial cost of making these changes will be £800 million as the company will be required by UK law to make redundancy offers to the permanent staff.

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