Type
Internal restructuring
Country
Norway
Region
Location of affected unit(s)
Sector
Transportation / Storage
Land, Water And Air Transportation
Land Transport And Transport Via Pipelines
49.10 - Passenger rail transport, interurban

300 jobs
Number of planned job losses
Job loss
Announcement Date
29 September 2016
Employment effect (start)
1 January 2017
Foreseen end date
31 December 2018

Description

Government-owned Norwegian State Railways (NSB) will cut its staff by 300, mostly in administration and management for its passenger train division, as a consequence of railway reform and increasing competition. NSB is a railway company that operates most passenger train services in Norway and is fully owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications. The restructuring is a direct response to the government's railway reform which will introduce competitive tendering and transform NSB into a more specialised train operator that will be in direct competition with private companies. NSB states that the reform necessitates a "leaner and more efficient organisation", which is to be achieved by reducing management and administrative personnel within personnel transport. As the train operator side of NSB will gradually be subject to competition, other subsidiaries including real estate company Rom Eiendom and train maintenance company Mantena will be separated from the parent company in 2017. The restructuring will be undertaken in dialogue with union representatives and mainly based on voluntary job reduction measures through 2017 and 2018. 

Union representative Jane B. Sæthre in the Norwegian Union of Railway Workers (Norsk Jernbaneforbund) says that the union has known about the possibility of job cuts for some time. She states that the union expects the restructuring to be completed through voluntary measures including severance packages, and that the union will not accept direct dismissals. 


Sources

  • 29 September 2016: VG
  • 29 September 2016: NSB (press release)
  • 29 September 2016: VG
  • 29 September 2016: Dagbladet

Citation

Eurofound (2016), NSB, Internal restructuring in Norway, factsheet number 88762, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/88762.