July 13 (SeeNews) - Italian car maker Fiat's car factory in Serbia will be left with 2,500 employees after 700 workers decided to accept the company's voluntary severance package, the president of the factory’s trade union told SeeNews on Wednesday.
Severance payment will begin on July 28, Zoran Markovic said. Workers will receive 4,800 to 14,000 euro ($5,310 - 15,500), depending on their length of service.
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Fiat has said it plans to cut its staff by nearly a third by August due to a decline in demand for its vehicles. The deadline for filing applications under the voluntary severance programme, agreed by the management of the plant in Kragujevac, the Serbian government and the trade unions, expired last week.
Employees of the Fiat factory in Kragujevac, in central Serbia, now work in two shifts instead of three, manufacturing more than 400 cars daily, Markovic also said.
He added that some 600 people working for Fiat subcontractors in Serbia too had decided to quit their job.
Local media reported on Tuesday that, according to official statements by Fiat officials, there will be no layoffs at the Kragujevac factory after the expiry of the voluntary severance offer.
The Serbian car maker, in which the government owns a 33% stake, is one of the country's biggest employers and exporters.
($= 0.9038 euro)