The Czech Republic's biggest steelmaker, Mittal Steel Ostrava, plans to cut its workforce by a further 2,200 over the next three years to reach 6,300, company spokeswoman Jana Dronska said Sept. 19.
Mittal Steel Ostrava agreed at the end of August for 1,180 workers from the main company and a further 148 from daughter company Vysoke Pece Ostrava to take advantage of incentives to quit the company early. Mittal has said the layoffs are aimed at allowing it to attain Western levels of productivity.
The head of personnel, Jiri Gwozdz, said that current productivity was about 300 tons of steel per worker and the target was to reach 500 tons following the job cuts, the agency CTK reported.
Mittal Steel Ostrava is 70.67% owned by Netherlands-based Mittal Steel, the biggest steel producer worldwide, while the Czech government holds the remainder.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2006
