The German auto parts maker Continental has run head on into a weaker market and plans to cut 5,000 temporary jobs worldwide by the end of the year, chairman Karl-Thomas Neumann said on Oct. 30. "We have 10,000 temporary posts around the world, by the end of the year, half will have disappeared," Neumann said.
Production would also be cut at "the majority of sites" and the Christmas pause in late December will last "from one to four years" depending on the factory concerned. "At the moment there is no need" to cut permanent posts, Neumann said.
"In the first half of the year, the weak market situation in North America was compensated by the favorable economic conditions in Europe and Asia," Neumann said. "In the last quarter, however, there were drastic signs of slowing in all markets, whereby the dramatic declines in Europe in particular have negatively affected us.
In the third quarter, Continental's net profit plunged by 99% to 2.4 million euros (US$3.1 million). Sales leapt however by 51% to 5.9 billion euros.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2008
