The "Flender" factory, which operates in the Industrial Park in Subotica intends to start in early October dismiss between 340 and 350 workers.
According to information unofficially confirmed to "Politics", about 300 workers volunteered to leave the factory with severance pay.
Additionally, about a number of workers will be placed on the layoff list, some of whom will be redirected to the National Employment Service, while a smaller number of former "Flanders" workers will also take over some of the companies operating in the Industrial Zone in Mali Bajmok.
Despite the recent announcements by Saša Gravor, the director of the "Free Zone Subotica" where this factory operates, that the expansion of business in that factory is planned, now announcements about layoffs are coming.
This is the largest number of resignations given at once by a company in the Industrial Zone in Subotica, writes Subotica info.
Voluntary departure with severance pay
According to information from the factory, a large number of workers volunteered to leave the company because they managed to obtain favorable severance pay in negotiations with the company's management.
According to "Politika" information, negotiations are still ongoing in the factory about the conditions and the final number of workers who will be laid off.
Previous layoffs
This is not the first time that Flender has laid off workers. Last year, a total of 180 workers were dismissed on two occasions, most of them through a severance agreement.
In the data presented in the company's business results, it was stated that at the end of last year it had slightly more than 1.200 employees.
Business results show that of the previous three years, the highest was in 2023, while last year's revenues were lower than in 2022 and amounted to slightly less than 5,5 billion dinars, while the profit was slightly over 123 million dinars, and the lowest in the previous three years, writes Subotica info.
"Flender" in Subotica has been operating since September 2020 and deals with the production of electric motors, generators and transformers. However, the factory has been present in Subotica since 2003, when it was part of the Flender Group as "Loher Elektro". From 2005 to 2015, he operated within the "Siemens" group.
DZVM: Subotica is disappearing from the economic map
Certain political parties also reacted to the announcements.
The Democratic Union of Vojvodina Hungarians (DZVM) assessed that "Subotica is disappearing from the economic map of Serbia" and asked the mayor Stevan Bakić and his coalition partner Balint Pastor what was the reason for the dismissal of the workers.
"Of particular concern is the fate of the former giant, the ATB Sever Wolong factory... which once employed close to 5.000 workers, and today 300-400," the DZVM statement reads, adding that the factory lays off 50 workers each quarter.
The Subotic board of the New Face of Serbia (NLS) party also reacted to the information that "Flender" was going to lay off workers, accusing Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Mayor Bakić of it.
NLS reminded that the state once gave foreign companies "millions of euros in subsidies to come to Subotica, while the authorities used the factory as a backdrop for press conferences and promotion, turning employees into consumables of their system."
"Where are they now to explain to the people of Subotica why jobs are being cut? Where are they to account for failed policies, for the waste of public money and for betraying the trust of workers?", asks NLS and for Subotica, it seeks "a responsible government that builds a sustainable economy, takes care of the local people and does not allow workers to be deceived and thrown on the street as soon as the marketing show is over".
Wave of layoffs
The announcements from Subotica follow recent similar announcements in other cities in Serbia.
Factory "Gruner Srbija", which operates in Vlasotinac, announced recently that due to the unfavorable situation in the automotive industry market, which resulted in a reduction in the volume of work, the company was "forced to reduce the number of workers at the plant in Vlasotinac".
As "Južne vesti" wrote, while some workers testified that in one day about seventy of them were declared redundant, "Gruner" does not want to specify the number of those fired, nor whether they are planning additional layoffs.
Back on July 3rd, the company "Leoni" informed the public that there will be a complete closure of the plant in Malošishte. at the beginning of September, the first 400 workers were dismissed, and now it is known that the plant will be shut down by the end of the year and another 1.500 people will be out of a job.
And the factory of the company operates with a loss Linglong Tire in Serbia, the latest financial report showed Chinese tire manufacturing giant.
