On Wednesday, April 15, Hungarian steel producer ISD Dunaferr Zrt. (Dunaferr), a subsidiary of Ukrainian steelmaker Industrial Union of Donbass, said that it would lay off 400 workers and offer early retirement to several hundred more in measures aimed at surviving the global financial crisis.
Accordingly, Dunaferr said that it would cut 300 full-time and 100 temporary jobs by the end of August and offer early retirement to several hundred employees. Dunaferr stated that the job cuts were needed as its cost-cutting measures launched at the end of 2008 had proven insufficient to deal with falling demand and the poor economic outlook, and as unions had rejected its offer of a four-day work week.
The company reported a pre-tax loss of more than HUF 15 billion ($68 million) in the first quarter of 2009, worse than its forecast made at the end of 2008.