Office posts in danger as JCB unveils plans to axe another 75 jobs
The jobs at the excavator company – which has suffered a major slump in orders as the recession bites – are believed to be mainly office-based.
The factories affected will be the World Headquarters, Rocester; JCB Compact Products, Cheadle; JCB Earthmovers, Cheadle; JCB World Parts Centre, Uttoxeter and JCB Attachments, Uttoxeter.
A spokesman for the Rocester-based company said: "JCB has been reviewing staff numbers following the announcement in November of plans for up to 196 shop-floor redundancies and as a result entered into a 30-day consultation period on January 11 to reduce staffing levels by 75.
"The proposed job losses affect five of JCB's eight Staffordshire plants in addition to a number of European sales offices and voluntary redundancies are now being sought to minimise the impact of the decision.
"European and U.S. markets continue to be very tough and the redundancies are necessary to ensure the company's costs remain aligned with the prevailing level of demand."
Uttoxeter mayor Howard Grigg said: "Again it's another blow for the workers, JCB and Uttoxeter.
"It's a sign of the times and it shows that it's not just the small man on the street being affected – it's also the big manufacturers.
"We can only hope that this is the last batch of job losses."
The Post & Times revealed last week that JCB has extended consultation with a number of staff at risk of redundancy in order to review its new year sales book.
The firm announced it was looking to shed 196 jobs across five of its nine UK factories as a result of reduced demand for construction equipment.
A 90-day consultation with staff at Rocester is ongoing, but a 45-day consultation with workers at plants at Rugeley, Wrexham and two factories at Cheadle was due to end on Tuesday.
However, the consultation period at JCB Utility Products, Cheadle, has instead been extended until Friday, January 29
Union boss Gordon Richardson was optimistic an influx of orders would stem the number of positions under threat.
Gordon Richardson, GMB union convenor, said: "We don't want anyone to be made redundant, whether they are blue collar or white collar workers.
"The office workers haven't had the waves of redundancies that the shop floor has, so members have seen this coming to some extent, but it's disappointing, because we were hoping the market was experiencing an upturn.
"Some of the office staff are members of the trade union so they'll be represented by us, and hopefully, we can reduce the number of redundancies."
JCB's world headquarters in Rocester is earmarked for 148 of the latest cuts, with the balance spread across the four other affected sites. Union representatives at each factory continue to liaise with managers.
Mark Bergman, an organiser for GMB, suggested only a handful of staff had decided to take up an offer of voluntary redundancy. The remainder would need to be completed with compulsory redundancies.
All shop-floor staff have been in training this week as the company tries to counter a dip in demand usually experienced at the start of the year.
Since the start of the economic downturn about 1,800 redundancies have been made at JCB factories.
A JCB spokesman confirmed: "The consultation period at JCB Utility Products, Cheadle, has been extended until Friday, January 29 while the order intake is reviewed."
Alan Blake took on his duties as JCB's new chief operating officer on Monday, replacing chief executive Matthew Taylor.
Mr Taylor announced he was to quit in November, after less than 18 months in the job, to "pursue other opportunities".
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