290 jobs to go as JCB suffers further slowdown
Staffordshire digger company JCB has warned it is looking to axe another 290 people from its UK workforce in the wake of a "rapid deterioration" in the market for its construction equipment around the world.
It comes just two months after the company said 400 UK staff jobs were at risk as a result of the economic situation.
The latest jobs at risk are among JCB's shop floor workers based at its factories in Staffordshire and in Wrexham. The diesel engine factory in Derby is unaffected.
The company employs around 5,000 people in the UK but it has been hit by the dramatic slowdown in demand in its markets, which started in the summer and has resulted in a big fall in machine orders from its customers.
Discussions over the latest proposed redundancies started with the GMB union today as part of the 45 day consultation period.
JCB chief executive Graeme Macdonald said: "Manufacturers in the construction equipment industry are currently facing very tough trading conditions and we have to react to the current market reality to protect the long-term future of the business.
"Regrettably this means taking the very difficult decision to reduce the number of shop floor positions by up to 290 across the UK. As the global economy shows no sign of improving, the short-term outlook remains very challenging."
JCB GMB works convenor Gordon Richardson said: "This news is obviously very disappointing but it has been apparent now for some time that global markets have been declining. Our job as a trade union is to now work hard to formulate a plan to mitigate the impact of the proposed redundancies."
Meanwhile the consultation process over the 400 staff redundancies announced in September is continuing.
In the first six months of this year JCB has seen its market in Russia plummet by 70%. Much of this is thought to be due to the sanctions imposed on Russia in the wake of the shooting down of the Malaysian airliner over Ukraine a year ago.
In Brazil JCB's market is down by 36% and China by 47%. Parts of Europe are also struggling, with France down by 26%.
JCB says even the strong growth in the UK and North America has weakened due to a fall in market confidence over the summer, which has been prompted to an extent by low oil and commodity prices in countries which depend on these resources to drive economic growth.
