Leadership & People

Lanxess Plans Production Cutbacks and Plant Shutdowns

Lanxess says it has reached an agreement with empolyee represenatives on temporary production cutbacks and plant shutdowns over the holiday season and into January 2009. The measures will affect about 1,400 employees.

About 23 of Lanxess's 45 production facilities in Germany will be affected, including its major sites at Leverkusen, Dormagen, Krefeld-Uerdingen, and Brunsbuettel. The moves are in response to "the current decline in demand and the drop in orders," says Rainier van Roessel, labor relations director and board member at Lanxess.

Employees affected will switch to short-time working or use a part of their annual vacation. "When these options are exhausted, Lanxess employees can debit hours from their individual time accounts and bring them back into balance by working extra hours at a later time," the company says.  

By Natasha Alperowicz

Source: Chemical Week