According to Russia's Ministry of Industry and Trade, up to the end of 2009 the number of layoffs in Russia's ferrous and non-ferrous industry may reach 100,000, including 60,000 in the steel industry, due to the slump in demand for and prices of steel products.
As a result of the global financial crisis, most Russian steelmakers have been forced to cut output and investments, and to announce staff "optimizations." Thus, from November 2008 to February 2009, at the country's 16 main iron and steel works 3,200 workers were laid off, 8,545 workers were informed they would eventually be laid off, while 29,100 employees were sent on enforced leave, Russia's Ministry of Industry and Trade has announced. The ministry has stated that at the end of February 2009 465,000 people were employed at the country's 16 main iron and steel works.
Meanwhile, Severstal, one of the largest Russian steel producers, plans to cut a total of between 9,000 and 9,500 jobs at Severstal Cherepovets, said CEO and major shareholder Alexei Mordashov during a conference call. The figure includes jobs cut at the end of 2008 and layoffs planned for the first half of 2009. In addition, Mr. Mordashov said that Severstal is considering job cuts in the US and Europe and at its mining division in Russia, but he did not provide any details.
According to the data from state statistics agency Rosstat, in 2007 Russia's metallurgical industry, including the non-ferrous sector, employed a total of 1.2 million people.