Prospect National Secretary David Luxton said: “Our members are outraged that their hard work and intellectual excellence, which has contributed to QinetiQ’s ability to achieve a 22% increase in profits, has been rewarded first with a pay freeze and now job cuts.

“QinetiQ’s justification for its actions does not hold up to scrutiny. As the latest figures prove, it continues to be a highly profitable company both internationally and in the UK with a ‘backlog’ of secured work worth £5.4 billion.

“While the UK business may have been less profitable than overseas work, there is underlying revenue growth and profitability. Our members are already furious that the company imposed a pay freeze for 2009 while still paying bonuses to directors and senior managers. This news will only strengthen resolve in the ongoing industrial action ballot over their zero pay increase.”

Prospect representatives held a protest – holding large blank cheques – outside QinetiQ headquarters in London in advance of the company’s press conference.

QinetiQ employs over 7,000 staff in the UK and operates over 40 sites with major facilities located at Farnborough in Hampshire, Malvern in Worcestershire and Boscombe Down, Wiltshire. The result of the ballot will be announced on June 1.