Danish Crown cuts jobs across Denmark

The job cuts will contribute to achieving the targets set out by Danish Crown in DC Future. This is step one of the company’s contingency plan after the failure to agree a pay freeze in the recent collective bargaining process.

– This is a very regrettable development, but production costs simply must be reduced for pork production in Denmark to return to a reasonable level of profitability. The alternative is massive job losses in Denmark in the coming period, says Kjeld Johannesen, Danish Crown’s CEO, emphasising that this is only the first step in the contingency plan devised to achieve the targets defined.

The plan involves both cuts as a result of increases in efficiency, flagging-out of activities and a general tailoring of capacity. Danish Crown expects to recreate some of the jobs outside Denmark after the summer holidays, but there is also some hope that a small number of those affected by the job cuts may be offered work at other Danish Crown facilities in the coming period.

The job cuts are expected to be realised around the time of the summer holidays this year.

The plan comprises:

– Proposed closing-down of the evening shift in Esbjerg
– Proposed closure of the streaky bacon department in Skærbæk
– Proposed reduction of fore-end deboning in Horsens
– Financial update and new assessment of the future for Rødding
– Closure of the freezing facility in Blans
– Analysis of evening shift in Fåborg with a view to reducing the size of the evening shift in the autumn and/or closing it down altogether in the long term

The following departments are affected: