More than 100,000 employees in the car making industry on the verge of unemployment in three monthsUpdated: 03-04-2009 |

More than 100,000 employees in the car making industry face the risk of losing their jobs by July if the state fails to take urgent measures to reduce companies' losses and bolster domestic consumption, union leader in the field Dan Bajan told NewsIn.

The market slumped 30-35 percent in the first three months this year, Bajan said, warning 30 percent of the 315,000 staff in the industry could be dismissed soon.

Representatives of unions in the field asked the Economy, Labor and Public Finance Ministries to extend the program giving incentives for selling old cars, to home devices and food industry equipment in order to offset the 60 percent drop in exporting orders.

The lack of orders hampered companies in paying debts on January and February and firms are now having a hard time accessing European funds and cannot take part in auctions organized by the state, Bajan said.

Still, lay-offs could be delayed another three months with the help of EU financed programs which companies with debts cannot join, another union leader Ilie Miu said.

The most pessimistic prognosis by far is that of Aurel Oprea, head of a union made up of employees in the industry. He said that unemployment in the car making industry could count 200,000 people by the end of the year in the event the state does not give a helping hand.

An official of the Labor Ministry deems the car making industry is among the main fields to generate lay-offs this year because companies live out of exports and foreign markets are clogged.

The Labor Ministry foresees the number of unemployed in Romania to hike to about 900,000 at the end of the year, as the Romanians' that were working abroad will come back home.

The car market in Romania as brutally hit by the domino effect of a global slump in demand which led to dismissals and cutbacks in production. The largest producer, Renault's Dacia, closed gates for several weeks since the crisis burst in the fall of last year.

NewsIn