Up to 140 jobs at risk at ArcelorMittal Belgium
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Up to 140 jobs are at risk at ArcelorMittal's Belgian operations as the steelmaker plans to relocate certain activities to Poland or India. The plans would mainly affect white-collar workers at the Ghent site.
The company is considering moving some support activities, such as human resources and finance, to its business service hubs in Poland or India. There has been talk of relocation for some time, but this is the first time figures have been mentioned at a works council meeting.
The jobs of between 100 and 140 ArcelorMittal Belgium employees could be up for relocation
Management has refused to confirm any figures, but according to internal communications seen by Belga, the jobs of between 100 and 140 ArcelorMittal Belgium employees could be up for relocation.
The management of the Ghent site said that only "routine tasks, recurring tasks, tasks with clear rules and activities where efficiencies can be achieved through economies of scale" would be considered for relocation.
Pressure of cheap imports
ArcelorMittal has a large plant in Ghent, Belgium, employing more than 3,000 steelworkers and about 2,000 office staff. The company's support services in Belgium include industrial automation, quality control, customer relations and IT.
The steelmaker announced in February that it was working on relocating certain services. The move is part of a cost-cutting policy as ArcelorMittal's European steel plants face fierce competition from cheaper imports, particularly from Asia.
"It is our ambition to safeguard the jobs of the affected employees," management said, adding that it sees opportunities to do so through internal mobility, insourcing and natural attrition.
600 layoffs in France
On Wednesday ArcelorMittal also announced a major round of layoffs in France, where 600 jobs will be lost in seven factories in the north of the country. This decision is unrelated to the efficiency exercise that the multinational is carrying out in its European services.
According to ArcelorMittal, only routine tasks and activities with clear rules or economies of scale will be outsourced. Tasks that require a physical presence or local knowledge, or that are legally linked to the site, will remain in Belgium.
In addition to Ghent, ArcelorMittal has smaller production sites in Liège, Geel and Genk in Belgium. In 2021, the company announced an ambitious greening of the Ghent site, which has not yet been realised. The European market is currently not conducive to major investments due to the pressure of cheap imports, said ArcelorMittal.
#FlandersNewsService | A walking beam furnace at the ArcelorMittal plant in Ghent © BELGA PHOTO JASPER JACOBS
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