ANOTHER 50 jobs are to be axed at a leading Huddersfield company, it has been announced.

Engineering firm Cummins Turbo Technologies said it was to cut 50 manufacturing posts – on top of 119 redundancies announced last month.

They follow 72 redundancies which the company announced just before Christmas.

In total, the company’s workforce will reduce from about 1,100 to about 850 following the latest cuts.

The US-owned business blamed a further decline in orders from key customers for the latest blow.

A spokeswoman said the decision had been announced to staff. Consultations with employee representatives and union officials were now under way. The talks will run as part of a 90-day consultation period already being undertaken for the 119 job losses announced in February.

The spokeswoman said: “There has been a further reduction in demand from January and February. As a result, we need to take this action.” Cummins sites across the world were similarly affected. “Our US facilities are being hit as badly if not worse than our Huddersfield site.”

She said suggestions that the company introduce short-time working as an alternative to job losses had been discussed as part of consultations, but had been rejected by unions.

The company did not foresee making any further job cuts, but the spokeswoman stressed: “The problem is that the impact of the recession on our market is unprecedented and we are having to react to market conditions.”

The company, founded in 1952, makes turbochargers for trucks and buses and includes major names such as Scania, Volvo and Daimler.

The firm’s sprawling site at St Andrew’s Road, Turnbridge, has manufacturing operations as well as a technical centre for research and development and an after-sales operation providing spares and parts.

At the time of the February job cuts announcement, the company said it had enjoyed five years of growth until reporting a 30% fall in order volumes during the second half of the year. It said sales had fallen further since the start of 2009.

Cummins Turbo Technologies said it was looking to improve efficiency in its manufacturing and engineering operations so it would be ready to take advantage when the country came out of recession.

Cummins has operations at nine sites across the world, including the USA, Brazil, India and China.

The latest job losses come just a week after Huddersfield business leaders urged the Government to consider offering “wage subsidies” to help firms keep key staff by operating short-time working – and fund training to improve their skills on days when they would otherwise be idle.