Tata Steel is planning to retrench 1,600 employees in Netherlands and 1,000 in UK as part of its proposal to lower employees cost and make the European operations sustainable.

The company, which will axe another 350 jobs globally, started negotiation with its European Works Council on proposals to transform its business.

In all, Tata Steel is expected to reduce employee strength by 3,000 of which about two-thirds would be in management and office-based roles, it said in a statement on Thursday.

The move aims to build a financially strong and sustainable European business, able to make the investments required to accelerate innovation and the company’s journey towards carbon-neutral steelmaking.

During the meeting, which marked the official start of the employee consultation process with the EWC, Tata Steel Europe shared initial proposals about its transformation programme.

Its initiatives include increasing sales of higher-value steels by improving product mix and customer focus, achieve efficiency gains by optimising production processes, supported by the application of big data and advanced analytics and lowering employment costs by job cuts, reducing procurement costs through smarter sourcing and strengthening cooperation with companies within the Tata Steel group.

Henrik Adam, CEO, Tata Steel said he understands and appreciates colleagues’ concerns about the proposals.

“Change creates uncertainty, but we cannot afford to stand still as a company – the world around us is changing fast and we have to adapt. Our strategy is to build a strong and stable European business, capable of making significant investments needed for a successful future," he said.

Tata Steel agreed with the EWC on a forward process and will meet again in the coming weeks to discuss further details. It will continue to update its employees and other stakeholders during the process.

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