750 Layoffs Expected After KTM Bankruptcy

To support these 750 employees and possibly others affected by job loss in Upper Austria, the state and the Public Employment Service (AMS) Upper Austria plan to establish a bankruptcy foundation with 300 positions.

Foundation for Dismissed Employees Following KTM Bankruptcy in Progress

This was announced by Markus Achleitner (ÖVP), the regional minister for economic affairs, after the meeting with AMS regional director Iris Schmidt and the social partners on Thursday. The foundation will be financed 50 percent each by the state and the Public Employment Service (AMS). Achleitner estimates about 10,000 euros per person - a total of 3 million euros. "Admissions will be possible from January at the latest," AMS director Schmidt outlined the timeframe. Affected individuals can be in the foundation for up to four years. However, it is not only available for KTM, but for all companies across all sectors in Upper Austria.

250 KTM Employees Already Dismissed

About 3,600 employees are affected by the KTM bankruptcy. In total, 750 employees of KTM AG and its also insolvent subsidiaries KTM Components GmbH and KTM F&E GmbH are likely to lose their jobs. So far, 250 people have been dismissed, and according to the restructuring plan, another 500 are to follow - when exactly is unclear. "I also don't think the affected people know who that will be," says Andreas Stangl, president of the Upper Austrian Chamber of Labour.

Based on experience, about 20 percent of the released employees would go into the foundation, according to Achleitner. That would be about 150 of these 750 KTM employees facing dismissal. But: "It will not stop at KTM," he is convinced, hence "we are now setting up a bankruptcy foundation with 300 places, as a precaution and with the aim of using as few of them as possible".

Regional AMS Task Force Following KTM Bankruptcy

"KTM is a flagship company" and everything must be done to secure its continued existence, says Achleitner. The foundation should also be "a clear signal to the employees" in this sense. The "most urgent goal" is to reassign all those affected by job loss as quickly as possible. There are 3,000 open positions in the Innviertel alone, and around 20,000 in all of Upper Austria. "Matching this is one of the most important tasks we now have." The AMS has pooled personnel for this, and a regional task force will be set up at the AMS Braunau.

In the case of the bankruptcy foundation, the public sector bears the costs, the company is not involved - unlike in an Implacement or Emplacement Foundation, explained AMS director Iris Schmidt. AK President Stangl still sees KTM owner Stefan Pierer as responsible: "We need the owner to achieve the restructuring", so that the remaining employees "have a future". At the company meeting, Pierer also admitted management mistakes, according to Stangl, but that is an "extra topic". Chamber of Commerce President Doris Hummer took the opportunity to appeal to the federal government negotiators: We have been warning for a long time that we are no longer competitive and "we need an economic location structure program".

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.