15.07.2008

JCB to shed 500 jobs

JCB announced that it intends to shed 500 manufacturing jobs in the UK - about eight percent of its total UK employees - to cut costs.

The company said it had been hit by a 'rapid decline' in business, with its forecast production schedule for the year down by 20 percent. It does not expect to see a recovery until next year at the earliest.

The redundancies will come from JCB's 11 factories in Staffordshire, Wrexham and Derbyshire. The firm said that some office-based staff will also lose their jobs.

“Our products are used mostly in the construction sector, which has been badly affected by the global credit crisis and rising raw material costs,” said Matthew Taylor, JCB group's chief executive.