As a result, it is running a voluntary separation program, offering employees 10,000 to 100,000 lei (EUR2,232 to EUR22,320) if they agree to leave on their own.
“We have various solutions available for the workers whose positions are made redundant by automation. For instance, we started a voluntary separation project,” says Cornel Olendraru, the general manager of the Dacia Vehicle Plant of Automobile Dacia. Dacia Vehicle plant has more than 7,000 employees.
“We have no figure set for this project but the last time we ran a voluntary separation program in 2013 about 200 employees left.”
The rise in the automation degree of Automobile Dacia from 5% to 20% will make 500 to 1,000 jobs out of the current 14,000 redundant, said Nicolas Maure, president of Dacia.
“The difficult jobs (…) generate quality problems because people get tired, cannot keep up the pace so better control is needed to preserve quality. Then comes the financial part of the equation. On the one hand, you have the normal increase in wages and on the other the cost of automation,” Cornel Olendraru said.
When workforce costs become too high, then automation becomes possible, he added. (EUR1=RON4.4803)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)