Short-time working a possibility at Bayer Material Science's German plants

24-Jan-09

Bayer MaterialScience, a part of Bayer Group is holding talks with employee representatives to introduce short-time working amid sharp decline in orders and the consequent unsatisfactory capacity utilization. In case the agreement is reached, 1,500 employees at the German plants would probably be affected including Leverkusen, Dormagen, and Krefeld-Uerdingen sites as from February, and in Brunsbüttel as from May. Cutbacks for managerial employees of Bayer MaterialScience are also being discussed. Similar employment streamlining measures have already been taken or are planned for the Bayer MaterialScience sites abroad. Bayer MaterialScience has a workforce of around 15,200 worldwide. A total of 5,500 people are employed in Germany, of whom some 2,500 work in production. In response to the financial crisis, Bayer MaterialScience had already brought forward maintenance work, and either cut back or temporarily halted production in many of its plants throughout the world at the end of last year. The employees also made use of flexible working hours or took unused vacation days.