Romania's largest carmaker Dacia to lay off some 4,000 people until April if sales go down

Romanian automaker Dacia, owned by France's Renault, could fire about 3,000 - 4,000 employees by April if sales fail to rise and on reduced orders, said the company's executive manager for communication, Liviu Ion.

He said no one wants to take drastic measures, but if sales for new vehicles remain at the same low level as in the past three months, than the company is likely to dismiss some employees.

Ion also mentioned some urgent measures are needed in a bid to solve the crisis, like keeping the pollution tax, encouraging lending and continuing the Rabla program which allows car owners to trade in old, polluting vehicles for new-car discounts.

Thousands of employees from Dacia went back to work yesterday after a month of technical unemployment and planned a protest for today to draw attention upon the importance of jobs in car making industry.

The carmaker closed doors at its plant from December 11 last year until January 11 after demand shrank because of the brutal fall of the car market, caused by the global crisis. The company will cut production from 1,360 to 1,085 cars daily and will also reduce the investment budget, from 250 to 150 million euros.

The employees that were sent home in technical unemployment received 85 percent of their gross salary and meal tickets for December. As many as 620 people who had contracts with the company for a limited period of time were laid off at the end of last year, as contracts were not renewed.

The main providers of Dacia also had to send home their employees from December 11 last year until January 11.

The head of the union, Nicolae Pavelescu, warned workers could be temporarily sent on vacation again in the following days because orders are low.

NewsIn