Way Industry and PPS Group planning to make employees redundant

Only 120 out of a total of 510 permanent employees of Way Industry Krupina (Banská Bystrica region) are working at the moment, with the rest at home on 65 percent of their normal salaries, the company's personnel manager, Ľubomír Straka, told the TASR newswire on December 15. The building equipment and machinery company decided on this measure due to the current global economic situation and a general reduction in orders. One-fifth of its employees have been at home since the beginning of December, while the firm will close down completely between December 19-January 12, 2009, after which most employees are due to return to work.

However, as many as 72 people will still lose their jobs as of January 1, 2009 in line with an announcement made by the company's management in November. Lay-offs related to the global economic crisis will also affect the employees of the largest engineering firm in the region, PPS Group Detva. The company is shedding staff following negotiations with trade unions, said Milan Bela, the director of the employment office in Zvolen. The employees have agreed to be made redundant in stages, with a total of 100 people set to lose their jobs by the end of 2008. According to Bela, the unemployment rate in Zvolen, Detva and Krupina districts, which stood at an average of 8.79 percent at the end of October, rose to 9.24 percent in November. Detva experienced the biggest increase, with its rate rising from 11.59 to 12.60 percent. TASR

Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports

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