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Ruukki Metals to Reduce Workforce in Finland
10/26/2009 - Ruukki Metals is to initiate employer-employee negotiations regarding workforce reductions and temporary layoffs in an effort to improve long-term efficiency and profitability and to adjust operations to weak market conditions.
Ruukki Metals is to initiate employer-employee negotiations regarding workforce reductions and temporary layoffs in an effort to improve long-term efficiency and profitability and to adjust operations to weak market conditions.
Plans include merging the Puurtajankatu and Asponkatu service centers in Järvenpää, Finland, and service-center operations in Seinäjoki also will be merged with those in Kiiluntie in Raahe. In addition, operational efficiency of steel centers in Hyvinkää and Naantali, Finland, is to be improved.
The company estimates that actions to improve the operational efficiency of all seven steel service centers in Finland will result in a workforce reduction of around 175 persons. The employer-employee negotiations will explore redeployment and retraining possibilities, as well as pension arrangements.
Negotiations are also to be initiated regarding possible temporary layoffs in plate and prefabricated steel product operations in Raahe and in operations at the steel service centers in Hyvinkää, Asponkatu in Järvenpää, and Kiiluntie in Raahe, Finland. Around 670 people are affected by the negotiations. The company said that implementation of layoffs will become clear at each site as the negotiations progress.
"We're seeking permanent improvements and substantially better profitability,” said Olavi Huhtala, President of Ruukki Metals, which is responsible for Ruukki's steel production and steel service centers. “Service center operational efficiency will be improved by centralizing the product portfolio and expertise between units to provide faster, more flexible customer service. Regrettably, these measures will also mean workforce reductions and temporary layoffs."
Ruukki Metals division, which employs around 5500 people, estimates that improved operational efficiency will deliver permanent savings of around EUR 20 million at an annual level. Measures to adjust operations are expected to deliver savings of around EUR 7 million and will be implemented during the first half of 2010.
Rautaruukki, which uses the marketing name Ruukki, supplies metal-based components, systems, and integrated systems to the construction and engineering industries. The company has a wide selection of metal products and services. It has operations in 26 countries and employs 12,200 people. Net sales in 2008 totaled EUR 3.9 billion.
