Finland-based stainless steel producer, Outokumpu completed employee negotiations last month, cutting 650 job cuts in Europe this year, in order to restructure and reduce its employee headcount by 1,000 by 2022.
The company said that with continuing import pressure in Europe, along with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global industry, the firm was forced to take this decision in order to restore profitability. It aims to have less than 9,000 employees by the end of 2022. In order to meet this target, the stainless steel producer has laid off 250 employees in Finland, 230 in Germany, 170 in Sweden and expects to reduce 250 jobs in the US and Europe next year.
The firm expects to reach a financial target of €200mn ($243mn) in EBITDA by the end of 2022 and has set its eyes on increasing its Q4 2020 shipments by at least 5-10pc and an order backlog target of €10mn in 2021.
($1 = €0.82)