Type
Internal restructuring
Country
Slovakia
Region
Location of affected unit(s)
Slovakia
Sector
Transportation / Storage
Land, Water And Air Transportation
Land Transport And Transport Via Pipelines
49.2 - Freight rail transport

490 jobs
Number of planned job losses
Job loss
Announcement Date
6 October 2020
Employment effect (start)
1 November 2020
Foreseen end date
31 December 2020

Description

Slovak state-owned rail company, ZSSK Cargo, has announced it will dismiss 490 workers from 1 November to 31 December 2020. Internal restructuring is attributed to the decline in the volume of transported goods of which 70% are iron ore and coal-related products. Since 2018 there has been a 30% fall in volumes transported. ZSSK Cargo operates without state subsidy and its business was negatively affected by the recession of European steel industry, ongoing decline of coal power stations in Slovakia as well as the world-wide COVID-19 crisis. Planned redundancies are a part of management´s recovery plan to save the rest of jobs in the company, as far as possible. According to the chair of ZSSK Cargo board of directors, it is assumed that after completion of the restructuring the company will be profitable in 2023. According to the Slovak Minister of Transport, presently, there are no plans for the privatization of the company. Trade unions have approved the planned severance pay. 

ZSSK Cargo has around 4,900 employees in Slovakia.


Sources

Citation

Eurofound (2020), ZSSK Cargo, Internal restructuring in Slovakia, factsheet number 102045, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/102045.