At Least 10-15% Of Jobs In Romanian Food Industry To Be Scrapped This Year – Union

"The number of employees in the food industry fluctuates, but not very much, and it’s currently at 175,000 – 190,000 people. Judging by how we started out this year and the fact that we’re at a halt in negotiating a minim wage for the industry, I think at least 10-15% of these employees will be laid off,” Frumosu said Monday during a press conference.

He said multinational companies will be among employers to cut jobs.

"Multinationals generally bought several units in Romania, which added to their market share, and once they’ve recovered their investment, they’ve started moving operations into a single unit,” Frumosu said.

He said companies in the milk and meat processing sector will discard a working shift because of lower sales.

Frumosu reminded the example of Kraft Foods, which is relocating its chocolate factory from Brasov, central Romania, to a province town in Bulgaria, laying off 440 employees.

"We’re currently negotiating these people’s severance pay and we’ll protest in Brasov if we don’t succeed,” he said.

He added there are nearly 1,000 employees in the food industry that are currently on technical unemployment, receiving 75% of their gross wages, and who might be fired.