Hrvatske sume

500 jobs
Number of planned job losses

Announcement Date

11 August 2014

Employment effect (start)

8 September 2014

Foreseen end date

13 October 2014

Description

Hrvatske sume, an entity that manages forests and forest land in Croatia announced its intention to lay-off 500 employees.

Hrvatske sume (Croatian forests) is a three-layered commercial company owned by the state, with its HQs in Zagreb, 16 regional forest subsidiaries and 171 regional forest offices. The company is being led by the Management Board, its activitiy is being controlled by the Supervisory Board, (both appointed by the Government of Croatia), while the basic decisions are being met by the Assembly. The company employs ca 10,000 employees, 1,250 of whom have a university degree.

Hrvatske sume will probably dismiss in early September 2014 about 500 workers with secondary and tertiary school education. The Management Board decided that all working obligations will be performed by internal reallocation, and the fixed-term contracts for 500 workers will not be extended.

The Trade Union representatives argue that the number of employees should not be reduced, but with adequate business plans it should be increased for another 800 to 900 workers. They also warn that this decision of the Board has not been preceded by any study on whether and how the reduction of workers will affect the organisation’s activities. The Trade Union expresses its intention to complain to the Croatian Prime Minister as well as to the Minister of Labour and Pension System and the Minister of Agriculture and to the members of the Supervisory Board.

Hrvatske sume is one of the few state-owned companies that are not in trouble; in fact, it had a 2013 fiscal year profit of €100 million.

Sources

• 11 August 2014: 24sata