Hyundai Heavy Lays Off a Third of Offshore Executives

South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries has cut a third of the executive workforce in its offshore and engineering division, Yonhap said citing the shipbuilder.

Image by WMN

The world’s biggest shipbuilder is shrinking the workforce as its orders in the sector completely dried up.

The decision was made only weeks after Hyundai Heavy said it decided to temporarily shut down its offshore shipyard.

At the time, the shipbuilding major informed that the facility would run out of work by the end of July, when it finalizes its last order secured in November 2014, and subsequently close its doors in August.

This would be the first time the facility shuts down since the start of operations in 1983.

Yonhap earlier informed that the shipyard closure will leave some 5,600 offshore workers redundant, 2,600 of which are regular employees and 3,000 are supplier workforce.

The shipbuilder established a task force with its labor union in an effort to devise a solution for the redundant workers. HHI informed that the union demands paid leave for workers in rotation, however, the company is considering a number of options.

World Maritime News Staff