Tata Steel will reduce 800 positions at its Ijmuiden site in the Netherlands as part of measures to ensure “competitiveness and profitability”, at a time when the industry has been facing tough times.
However, there will not be a complete hiring freeze as the company needs technically trained personnel at the facility.
The job reduction will impact about 500 Tata Steel employees, primarily in management, staff and support positions. Forced redundancies “cannot be ruled out”, and the company will discuss a social plan with the unions, it said in a statement.
The remaining 300 jobs cut would be of temporary workers and the firm will not fill vacancies that are not directly related to the production, Tata Steel added.
“The steel market has been in dire straits for some time. In order to ensure structural competitiveness and profitability both now and in the future, Tata Steel Nederland is implementing significant measures, including the reduction of 800 jobs in Ijmuiden,” it said in a statement.
At present, Tata Steel employs about 9,200 personnel in IJmuiden, which is about 30 km from Amsterdam. Tata Steel Netherlands had reported an EBITDA loss of `2,317 crore in April-September 2023.
The “difficult” decision was taken despite all efforts to improve market position and reduce costs, the company said, adding that it needs to reduce personnel costs.
These steps are also in the interest of transforming into a cleaner, greener and more circular steel company, it said, adding substantial investments are also being made.
However, with the need remaining for technically trained personnel, such as in production, there will not be a complete hiring freeze. For the quarter ended September, Tata Steel posted a surprising net loss of `6,196 crore on a consolidated basis, missing Street estimates, impacted by weak performance of its European operations.
In comparison, the steel major had posted a net profit of 1,514.42 crore in the comparable year-ago period. During the quarter under review, the Tata Group firm’s consolidated revenue fell 7% to 55,682 crore from 59,878 crore recorded in the year-ago quarter. Its EBITDA also fell 29.6% to 4,268 crore from 6,060 crore.