HKScan on Monday announced it is set to reduce its headcount by 211 following statutory negotiations with its staff in five localities in Finland.
HKScan on Monday announced it will initiate consultative negotiations with its staff members with the objective of reducing its headcount by 211 and revising the terms and conditions of employment of its staff members as part of an effort to rationalise its operations in Finland.
The Finnish manufacturer of meat foods and products provides employment to over 7,000 people worldwide, including roughly 2,800 in Finland.
“Our goal is to significantly increase the flexibility and efficiency of our production, thereby strengthening our competitiveness and improving profitability,” Sami Sivuranta, the head of operations at HKScan, states in a press release.
HKScan says the statutory negotiations will cover its production and logistics staff in Forssa, Mikkeli, Outokumpu, Paimio and Vantaa. The negotiations will not, on the other hand, concern employees in managerial and professional duties and white-collar production and logistics duties at its five aforementioned facilities, and employees at its newly established poultry production plant in Rauma.
The potential personnel effects of the negotiations will be specified at a later date, according to the press release.
Helsingin Sanomat on Monday highlighted that the meat foods and products manufacturer has struggled with profitability particularly due to problems related to the start-up of its new facility in Rauma in January 2017. The start-up problems dented the first-quarter result of the company by almost 10 million dollars, sending the result 18 million euros into the red.
HKScan in May revealed its net debt rose to 313 million euros and net gearing ratio to 95 per cent between January and March. It has also blamed intense price competition and the growing popularity of store brands for its profitability woes, writes Helsingin Sanomat.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT Photo: Martti Kainulainen – Lehtikuva
