“A number of projects have been postponed or cancelled so, under the circumstances, a review is needed to adjust the organization to the current business needs. Considering the developments on the market, this review process is continuous and might lead, among other steps considered, to a reduction in the number of employees,” Petrom officials told ZF.
This is not about numbers but about quality, about the resilience of the company on an unfavorable market, while keeping all options of recovery open, in case the price context improves, they added.
Petrom, the second largest company in Romania, had 16,200 employees at the end of September 2015. If layoffs do happen, they will comply with the labor legislation and be operated after reaching an agreement with the unions, its representatives said.
Petrom is due to announce its 2015 financial results on Thursday, February 18, which might show losses for the first time since privatization in 2004.
Its majority shareholder, Austria’s OMV group is not doing any better, either. OMV on Friday announced it would up its gas station network in Turkey, Petrol Ofisi up for sale, despite being the largest actor on that market there.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)