Due to poor market conditions in the oil and gas industry, increasing competition, the combination of price pressure and unfavourable contractual conditions in the wind energy market, and the somber prospects for the near future, Heerema Fabrication Group (HFG) has made the decision to implement a reorganisation of the company.
The intended reorganisation will focus on adapting the company to the strongly decreasing volume of work, and on increasing the efficiency and competitive power of HFG. As a result of the restructuring, an anticipated 450 of the existing 770 jobs in the company will be phased out. Compulsory redundancies will unfortunately be unavoidable. The job losses will affect the head office in Zwijndrecht (Netherlands), next to the HFG yards in the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Poland.
The management has already informed the employees of the situation and requested advice from the company's works council. HFG has also entered into discussions with the trade unions about a severance scheme.
All Locations Continue
Operations will continue at all its locations in Vlissingen, Zwijndrecht, Hartlepool (UK) and Opole (Poland). Each of these yards has its own specialism in the design and fabrication of complex steel constructions for the worldwide offshore oil and gas market and the wind energy market. The reorganisation will also not affect the Heerema Innovation Center.
HFG hopes future energy requirements will cause the number of projects to increase again. Until that time the company will try to maintain as much employment as possible.
HFG is not the only company struggling to survive. Just some examples of other companies that are in the process of downsizing are Royal IHC, Boskalis and Keppel Verolme.
Picture: The Heerema Innovation Center (by HFG).
