PKP Cargo will label up to a third of its employees as ‘inactive’ from 1 June. The affected employees will not work and will face a 40 per cent reduction in their salaries for up to a year. The Polish operator is taking this step to compensate for financial losses.
PKP Cargo expects a ‘temporary limitation of tasks related to handling transport volume’, according to a press release. Subsequently, the company will have to compensate for an expected loss in revenue. Moreover, the trade unions for PKP and PKP Cargo called upon the rail operator to take measures to ensure the company’s financial stability, prompting PKP Cargo to take this step, the company says.
Up to 30 per cent of all employees may be forced to stop working for up to a year. In 2022, the company employed approximately 21 thousand people, which means that 7 thousand people are likely to be temporarily removed from their jobs. They will, however, continue to receive 60 per cent of their original salaries for the duration of their period of inactivity.
The move comes after the appointment of a new management board, which started its work on 26 April. The acting president expressed “outrage” about the failure of the previous board to take countermeasures against the expected financial difficulties, according to PKP Cargo.
Challenging times
PKP Cargo has faced various challenges in recent times. In comparison with 2022, the rail freight operator lost 17,8 per cent of freight volumes in 2023. That year’s tonne-kilometres also decreased by 17,5 per cent compared to the previous year. The company pointed to a slowdown of the flow of goods from the Far East and declining transportation volumes of coal as major factors for the negative numbers.
At the same time, operating costs grew by 2 per cent. The company cites employee benefits as being a major driver of costs, which could explain PKP Cargo’s decision to now cut labour expenditures.
Nevertheless, the company maintained its profitability. It generated 5,5 billion Polish złoty (1,3 billion euros) in revenues and spent 5,2 billion złoty (1,2 billion euros) in costs. The company made a net profit of 82,1 million złoty (19,1 million euros).
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