24 July 2003 16:14
RUSSIA: RUSAL TO CUT 10 PERCENT OF STAFF
Russian Aluminum (Rusal), the world's second-largest producer of primary aluminum, plans to ax 10 percent of its
69,000 employees by the end of 2003 as part of a cost-cutting program, Interfax reported on 15 July. Rusal Human
Resources Director Viktoria Petrova told a videoconference for regional media that neither the quantity nor the quality
of Rusal's staff matches the company's goal of becoming the world's largest aluminum producer. Petrova
told RTR-Vesti on 15 July that a retraining program will be available for workers whose positions are being eliminated.
Rusal spokeswoman Vera Kurochkina noted that only 600 positions will be pared from actual production, while 6,000
workers employed in noncore areas will simply be removed from the company's structure as it sheds noncore assets.
Sixty percent of staff cuts will affect management. Brunswick UBG analyst Fedor Tregubenko told "Vedomosti" on
16 July that Rusal has reason to be dissatisfied with the "quantity and quality" of its staff, since the
company's workers are only 50 percent as productive as those employed by Rusal's Western competitors. DK
Copyright (c) 2003. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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