Corus sheds 3,500 jobs

27 January 2009

Europe's second largest steel maker, Corus, which is part of Tata Steel, has shed 3,500 jobs, initiated divestments, asset restructuring and a company-wide efficiency review, in view of the economic downturn where demand for steel has collapsed in the global market.

Corus currently employs about 42,000 people, out of which 2,500 are being rendered redundant in the UK and another 1,000 in Europe, though the company said that it will make every effort to restrict the job losses to voluntary redundancies, whilst retaining critical skills in the business.

''The structural changes we are proposing today have been carefully considered,"Corus CEO Philippe Varin said. "They are essential for the future of the business. The company will keep its focus on priority areas such as training, research and product development, which, together with today's initiative, will ensure Corus is in the best possible shape to compete strongly in the future.''

The strategic and structural changes along with the job cuts will enable the company to improve its operating profits by more than £200 million per year, the company said.

The Tata owned steel company said it will continue to discuss with employee representatives options to match payroll costs with the new production and demand levels.

Union workers in the UK and the Netherlands are not happy with the large scale compulsory job cuts and were seeking to urgently talk with the management of Corus to minimise the job cuts. GMB union official John Wilson said that that the UK government should give the same support to the steel industry as it has given the UK banks as the steel sector is the bedrock of the country's economy.