MAN to cut 860 jobs at its e-bus production plant Starachowice in Poland

MAN is going to cut 860 jobs at its Starachowice plant in Poland, where the electric bus range Lion’s City E is built. The news is covered on the German media Busblickpunkt and was first reported on infoPOL.PRESS. The group invested some 27 million euros to implement e-bus production there.

The cut is due to the decline in sales of buses and coaches. The Polish agency says that “from 2019, sales fell from 7,400 to 4,600 last year. This decline had continued in 2022. By the end of October, only around 2,837 buses bearing the Lion and Neoplan logos had been sold”.

860 workers is about one third of the workforce employed in the Starachowice plant. Production volumes will decrease accordingly: eight buses will be produced daily in future instead of the previous twelve.

MAN to cut jobs one third of its workforce in Starachowice

The manufacturer itself has announced the move with a statement published in Polish. It says: “It is urgently necessary to adjust the structure of this business area. In order to achieve this goal, a comprehensive package of measures has been defined. The revenue side is to be improved through sales measures. Savings will be achieved by reducing material, energy, production and development costs. In addition, the company has to to reduce personnel costs in the international production structure in the bus sector“.

MAN Executive Board member Michael Kobriger is quoted as saying: “As in the past, MAN is aware of its social responsibility and intends to work with the trade unions in the coming weeks to find viable solutions for the company and the employees in Starachowice”.

Production in Starachowice to be cut

In Starachowice, only eight buses will be produced in future instead of the previous twelve, explained Kobriger, Executive Board Member for Production at MAN Truck & Bus SE. Negotiations with the trade unions will lead to socially acceptable solutions for the resulting loss of 860 jobs. To this end, the Executive Board is proposing a relocation of workers to MAN’s newest truck assembly plant near Krakow (Niepołomice) and to Banovce in neighbouring Slovakia.

Still quoting from infoPOL.PRESS: “The decision to massively cut jobs in Starachowice is attributed to the fact that in the past there was no agreement with the trade unions on the introduction of a flexible working time model at the Polish MAN bus plant. At the second MAN bus factory in Turkey, activity has so far been normal. In the first three quarters of this year, 1318 buses were produced there, 90 buses more than in the same period last year”.