Electrica Serv Could Put 1,400 Jobs On Hold

Alina Toma Vereha

After having laid off 1,800 employees at the beginning of the year, Electrica Serv is considering sending some of the remaining employees on technical unemployment has the current crisis has taken a heavy toll on the company"s order intake.

"The unions and the management are discussing a technical unemployment programme under which approximately 1,400 employees could take turns for a period of three months. This situation is caused by the lack of funds for reorganizing the company. Many of our branches are in the red because they no longer receive maintenance and repair orders from the distribution units of Electrica S.A.," said Adolf Muresan, President of the Univers Union Federation.

He explained that the decrease in the overall electricity consumption was strongly affecting all companies in the energy system, from production to supply. The decrease in revenues has caused a proportional decrease in the maintenance and repair budgets. As electricity distribution companies suffered significant cost cuts, their orders to Electrica Serv decreased proportionally, leaving Electrica Serv without any funds for reorganizing their operations.

Concurrently, private distribution companies have agreed on early retirement schemes and voluntary layoff schemes with the respective stakeholders. Only E.ON still intends to fire some of their employees towards the end of the year, if the situation worsens, Muresan told BURSA. Meanwhile, CEZ is considering outsourcing some of their activities in order to cut costs. Muresan also noted that electricity producers were planning to cut approximately 100-150 jobs each, focusing primarily on persons close to the age of retirement or eligible for early retirement.