Peter T. Leach | Jan 05, 2010 11:05AM EST
Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction, Korea’s fifth-largest shipyard, plans to cut its shipbuilding workforce by at least 30 percent to help overcome a management crisis arising from a worldwide recession in the industry.
The plan calls for the company to begin layoffs in its shipbuilding unit in February and spin off part of its technology group, according to the Yonhap News.
“The company did not receive any new ship orders this year and we are not structurally capable of taking on low-priced orders at the moment,” it said. “For the survival of the company, layoffs and workforce restructuring are inevitable.”
Troubled container lines have been trying to cancel or delay their existing ship orders placed during the boom years that preceded the recession.
Contact Peter T. Leach at pleach@joc.com.