Volvo Trucks to cut 1,400 jobs in Sweden, Belgium
September 30, 2008
Volvo, one of the world's top heavy duty truck makers, said Tuesday it would cut 1,400 jobs in Belgium and Sweden due to declining demand for its lorries in Europe.
"The company will initiate negotiations with the unions regarding staffing level cutbacks of approximately 1,400 employees at the company's plant in Ghent in Belgium and (in the southwestern town of) Gothenburg and (the northern town of) Umeaa in Sweden," Volvo Trucks said in a statement.
Volvo will also implement a cost-cutting plan to counter the effect of lower sales and growing raw material costs, it added.
"The planned reductions are not only being undertaken to rebalance capacity, but also to increase efficiency in production and to compensate for the higher raw material prices," Volvo chief executive Steffan Jufors said.