JCB last week announced that it is reducing production at its U.K. factories for the last two months of the year by 34 percent and maintaining those revised output levels into the first quarter of 2009. The move will lead to additional redundancies and nearly 400 job cuts.
Last month JCB revealed it needed to cut its shop floor workforce by 510 at U.K. factories but the figure was reduced by 332 after GMB members voted by a two-thirds majority in favor of a shorter working week.
JCB last week announced an additional 398 redundancies, including 297 shop floor jobs and 101 staff posts, due to the extreme deterioration in business levels and confidence around the world leading to a significant reduction in in-coming orders, particularly from previously buoyant markets including Russia and Central and Eastern Europe.
JCB, however, did say it has chosen to retain 336 shop floor employees who would otherwise have been at risk of redundancy as a result of the reduced production levels during the first quarter of 2009. This decision has been made in anticipation of an upturn in activity levels during the second quarter and reciprocates the support shown by employees in voting for a 34-hour week to save colleagues’ jobs.
“Our employees voted last month to save 332 of their colleagues’ jobs which was commendable,” said JCB CEO Matthew Taylor. “In turn JCB is now supporting their decision as much as possible by retaining 336 people who ordinarily would have been made redundant. All job losses are regrettable but we have jointly saved 668 jobs from more than 1,240 that would otherwise have been at risk.”
With international headquarters in Rocester, England, JCB is a global manufacturer of construction equipment. Its U.S. headquarters are located in Savannah, Ga.
