Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More

Video | Agriculture | Confidence | Economy | Energy | Employment | Finance | Media | Property | RBNZ | Science | SOEs | Tax | Technology | Telecoms | Tourism | Transport | Search

 

UPDATE: Scott Technology cuts 13 jobs after 'busy' 2014: CEO

UPDATE: Scott Technology cuts 13 jobs after 'busy' 2014, CEO Hopkins says

(Adds CEO comment throughout)


By Suze Metherell

May 26 (BusinessDesk) - Scott Technology has confirmed it laid off 13 workers as the industrial automation firm looks to cut staff numbers at its Christchurch plant after taking on extra employees during a bumper year, chief executive Chris Hopkins says.

The Dunedin-based firm last week told workers their positions were now redundant at the Christchurch plant, according to a statement from the Engineering, Printing & Manufacturing Union. Hopkins confirmed the statement, saying the appliance-focused plant's staffing gradually increased through a "busy" 2014, and had now been reduced to about 70 workers. About 60 percent of staff at the plant are represented by the EPMU, he said.

"It's a bit more dramatic than the reality, that's for sure," Hopkins told BusinessDesk. "It's just in response to the decline in our forecast production in our Christchurch plant. We manufacture in four countries around the world, and we've got six manufacturing sites in New Zealand.

"We had a busy 2014 and we took on permanent staff to meet that increase in demand, and this is just returning staff levels to similar levels that we were in 2012, 2013."

Last October, Scott Technology said its manufacturing businesses were coming under pressure from the strong New Zealand dollar, which eroded export earnings. Hopkins said the redundancies were related to less demand on the Christchurch plant, not shrinking margins.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

"We have allocated and reallocated some work up to Christchurch," Hopkins said, to make up for the forecast downturn in appliance manufacturing which the Christchurch plant makes. "We've been discussing this with the union for months so its certainly not a shock to them."

Ross Heslop, EPMU organiser for the Scott Technology staff, said they sought to hold off the redundancies until the manufacturer knew whether it would be successful in winning several contracts up for tender but were rebuffed.

“They’ve indicated they want to move away from the employee model and begin relying more on temp workers to fill orders," Heslop said.

Last October the Parliament passed legislation in an effort to increase labour market flexibility and cut the regulatory burden and compliance costs for small- and medium-sized businesses. Chief among the changes are new working arrangements where employees can request work hours that suit them, the ability to negotiate rest breaks to meet work flows, provisions to protect vulnerable workers, a faster turnaround for Employment Relations Authority decisions, and a series of changes to collective bargaining to reduce ineffective negotiations.

Scott Technology acquired three businesses over an 18-month period, and has flagged it will need to raise new capital to reduce borrowings. Those acquisitions helped drive a 40 percent gain in first-half profit to $1.1 million on a 16 percent lift in sales to $29.3 million.

Scott Technology shares were unchanged at $1.37, and have dropped 10 percent this year.

(BusinessDesk)

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Business Headlines | Sci-Tech Headlines

 
GenPro: General Practices Begin Issuing Clause 14 Notices

GenPro has been copied into a rising number of Clause 14 notices issued since the NZNO lodged its Primary Practice Pay Equity Claim against General Practice employers in December 2023.More

SPADA: Screen Industry Unites For Streaming Platform Regulation & Intellectual Property Protections

In an unprecedented international collaboration, representatives of screen producing organisations from around the world have released a joint statement.More

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.