Construction company Skanska to cut 600 jobs in Finland, 3,400 in Nordic region

Overall employment situation improved in October

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Skanska, the largest construction company in the Nordic region, is scaling back its work force in Sweden, Norway, and Finland by about 3,400.
     The cutbacks will affect about 600 employees in Finland. The redundancies are to take effect this autumn and next year.
     
The reason for the sharp reductions is the sudden slowdown in housing construction. The financial crisis that has spread from the United States has caused demand for new homes to plummet in Finland. There is no incentive to build new housing, while old apartments and houses remain unsold.
     Skanska says that the deteriorating economy is leading to a decline in turnover of about 15 per cent next year.
     The personnel cutbacks in Finland will affect up to 150 office workers and about 450 construction workers in different areas and units. Skanska currently has nearly 3,000 employees in Finland, and 20,500 in the whole Nordic region. The measures are to be implemented through permanent and temporary redundancies, as well as retirement arrangements.
     The first negotiations with personnel have already taken place at Skanska Kodit Oy , which builds residential properties.
     
Although news of job cuts and temporary layoffs have been coming in all autumn, the unemployment rate in Finland did not increase in October. According to Statistics Finland, there were 27,000 more people with jobs, and 8,000 fewer jobless in Finland than last year at the same time.
     The unemployment rate for October, adjusted for seasonal variations, was 6.5 per cent.
     The cutbacks have primarily affected predominantly male professions, such as the forest and metal industries. This has already been reflected in employment rates for men. The number of unemployed men increased in the autumn, while the number of jobless women continued to decline.


Links:
  Skanska press release: Skanska to adapt organization to anticipated volume decline in Nordic market

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