Pavlodar steel plant to cut over 400 jobs

Steel Casting Plant in Pavlodar will axe over 400 jobs, Tengrinews.kz reports. Pavlodar Department of Control and Social Protection said that the plant’s employees had started receiving notifications of the coming cuts. The company’s management explained that the cuts were a forced step caused by a decrease of demand for the plant's products and its shrinking production volumes. “Due to the difficult economic condition of the company related to a sharp deterioration of the situation in the steel markets and decreasing production volumes, the casting company announced a forced downtime from October 1 to November 15. Later we introduced a part time work schedule after sending written notifications to our employees. Besides, we have warned our personnel and the oblast’s administration 2 months in advance that we are forced to cut 471 jobs starting from December 15,” the company stated. Department of Control and Social Protection noted that the situation with jobs cut is under its special scrutiny. “This company is prone to causing social tensions, so we take all measures to prevent them,” chief labor inspector of Pavlodar oblast Kenzhebek Zhakashov said. According to him, the plant’s management has managed to organize employment of part of its axed employees with other companies of the city and currently the number of personnel to be fired stands at 307 people. Under instructions of the oblast prosecutor’s office, the Department and other state authorities are checking if the plant management’s actions are justified and in compliance with the labor legislation of Kazakhstan.