ArcelorMittal to cut 1,550 jobs in Germany & Belgium

Steel maker ArcelorMittal has said it would cut over 1,500 jobs in Germany and Belgium in response to sagging demand.

s many as 750 jobs (450 in Bremen and 300 in Eisenhttenstadt) will be cut in Germany ... the time frame has not yet been finalised. In Belgium we announced a voluntary separation programme for 800 employees," spokesperson Arne Langner said.

The L N Mittal-led company said that the jobs of another 450 employees at its Bremen unit and 300 at the other German plant would be affected temporarily. However, they will not have to leave the company but will have reduced working hours and can apply for part-time work at the units where they are working now,

In Belgium, a voluntary separation programme for 800 employees in sales, and general and administrative (SG&A) departments was announced, Langner said.

However, the company did not say whether there would be job cuts in India.

ArcelorMittal had announced a voluntary separation scheme last month for 9,000 employees globally.

ArcelorMittal to cut up to 9,000 jobs

ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, unveiled plans on Thursday to slash up to 9,000 more jobs, saving $1 billion a year in response to a deepening global economic downturn.

The company said it would launch a voluntary redundancy scheme for largely white collar staff to make the cuts, which which could affect about 3 per cent of its workforce.

Up to 6,000 of the job losses would come in Europe, where its largest offices are in Luxembourg and Paris.

The company warned on Tuesday that it might indefinitely lay off 16 per cent of its US workforce, or around 2,400 people, as it cut steel output there by 40 per cent.

It has since settled on 490 positions going through a voluntary scheme. "The global economic reality means that it is only sensible to adopt such measures," Bernard Fontana, a member of ArcelorMittal's management committee, said in a statement.

ArcelorMittal warns of 2,444 job cuts

ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, has warned that as many as 2,444 employees at a steel plant in northwestern Indiana could be laid off indefinitely in January.

The company announced that it had notified the United Steelworkers labour union and other interested parties about the possibility of an "indefinite layoff" at its Burns Harbor plant in the second half of January. The recent drop-off in global steel production and the company's previously announced plan to reduce production in North American by 40% factored into the decision, the company said.