The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Südösterreich; Steiermark; West- und Südsteiermark
Location of affected unit(s)
Frauental
Sector
Manufacturing Manufacture Of Rubber And Plastic Products And Other Non-Metallic Mineral Products Manufacture Of Other Non-Metallic Mineral Products 23.43 - Manufacture of ceramic insulators and insulating fittings
160 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
6 April 2017
Employment effect (start)
1 September 2017
Foreseen end date
31 December 2017
Description
PPC Insulators, leading manufacturer of porcelain insulators for high-voltage power lines, will shut down its production site in Frauental, Styria, making 160 employees redundant.
The company was formed in 2001 after the merger of the US company ‘Porcelain Products’ and the European ‘Ceram’ group and currently employs 1,300 people worldwide. According to newspapers, management has announced plans to reduce production beginning in September 2017 before closing the site by the end of the year. Pending orders could be completed by the first quarter of 2018.
The works council said the step came as a surprise as the plant shows positive results and management only recently presented restructuring plans for a new start at the site. According to the works council affected employees have been offered jobs at different company sites, however they would all require moving abroad. A social plan has already been negotiated during the initial restructuring plans but needs to be adapted according to the new circumstance, employees’ representatives argue. So far there are no comments from management on this issue.
Sources
6 April 2017: Die Presse
6 April 2017: Der Standard
6 April 2017: orf online
Citation
Eurofound (2017), PPC Insulators, Closure in Austria, factsheet number 90687, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/90687.
Digitisation and automation technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can affect working conditions in a variety of ways and their use in the workplace raises a host of new ethical concerns.
The retail banking sector is fertile ground for studying the impacts of digitalisation on work and employment. Financial services are increasingly provided online, without the intermediary of customer-facing institutions.
European labour markets have recovered strongly from COVID-19. By the end of 2021, little more than 18 months after the start of the pandemic, employment rates in the EU were almost at pre-crisis levels.
