Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Civil engineering and petroleum services company Reinertsen will dismiss 350-400 employees in June. Engineers in Trondheim and Bergen will likely be most affected.
At the end of 2014, Reinertsen dismissed 130 employees. As previously reported, these dismissals mostly affected operators on oil rigs, while 200 engineers were temporarily laid off in Trondheim and Bergen. In January, Reinertsen decided to temporarily lay off an additional 50 engineers, and 145 in engineering and processing were temporarily laid off in March. It is now clear that Reinertsen will not be able to provide work to all those temporarily laid off, as the legal six-month period for temporary dismissals is approaching for those first affected.
350 to 400 employees will likely receive dismissals in June. Many of those currently temporarily laid off may be affected, but it is not given that the permanent dismissals will affect only these employees, as the dismissals process will be separate. The company is now initiating dialogue with the unions to identify employees that will be dismissed. The main principle for selection will be seniority, but retaining key competence in the company will also be a priority. Company union representative for Nito in Reinertsen, Kåre Walseng, says the process is hard on the employees. The last round of dismissals and temporary lay-offs was challenging, and the news of further dismissals was not well received although it was not completely unexpected.
Reinertsen is one of several companies downsizing in response to the reduced oil price and rate of investment in the North Sea. About 15,000 jobs have been lost in the Norwegian petroleum sector, according to DNB Markets. Statistics Norway has estimated that as much as 30,000 jobs directly related to petroleum investment activity may be cut before 2018. The unemployment rate in Norway is now over 4 percent, for the first time in nine years.
Eurofound (2015), Reinertsen, Internal restructuring in Norway, factsheet number 79404, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://dev.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/79404.
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