Success story

Temporary adjustment of the workforce of a steel company due to a fall in demand and a sharp increase in production costs, which makes it economically unviable to produce at certain times

Context:

The sharp increase in production (mainly energy and raw materials) and transportation costs, as well as the uncertain, volatile and changing market environment in which the Company operates, which is difficult to predict, was leading to both a drop in demand for its products and an exponential increase in production and transport costs, which resulted in the need to take temporary flexibility measures and to adapt its workforce to production needs.

How we helped:

During the project:

  • We analyzed the market where the Company was operating, studying all the market characteristics and trends that were impacting its activity, margins and results.
  • We analyzed the evolution of the Company’s demand, production and stock levels, explaining the ups and downs and the reasons for these fluctuations.
  • We analyzed the evolution of unitary production costs, broken down by type of cost.
  • We analyzed unitary production margins. This last analysis was carried out taking into account the effect of the accumulated finished product stock (valued at lower production costs) and without taking into account the effect of the stock (which implied producing at a loss and a very negative impact on margins and results).

Following the preparation of the technical report, we attended meetings with the Works Council to present the findings of the report and answer their questions and doubts. An agreement was reached with the Works Committee.

Result:

A Temporary Redundancy Proceedings were successfully carried out.