With just eight more days to go before the United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union, Brexit is making waves in Transylvania, too. More specifically, employees in Háromszék are being laid off because of the uncertainty surrounding the controversial UK move, Tibor Kelemen, director of Kovászna/Covasna County Agency for Employment (AJOFM), has told Székelyhon.
Earlier this week 110 Rouleau Guichard Ltd. employees received their last salaries, because the company is closing down its Sepsiszentgyörgy/Sfântu Gheorghe-based subsidiary. The company couldn’t secure enough orders for this year, and the subsidiary has become unsustainable, so the owners decided to close it down and lay off all employees. This marks the biggest collective lay-off in the county in the textile sector.
Another company, From Product Ltd., is citing the same reason – lack of secured orders – to underpin its decision to lay off 26 people out of 90 in mid-April, according to Kelemen. The factory is clearly the victim of Brexit, because the British owner, who controls the majority of the company’s shares, couldn’t wait until the exact terms and conditions of the Brexit were cleared up and decided to sell his shares. From Product manufactures dual-core mattresses for kids that provide a gentle sleeping surface for both the newborn and growing children.
On the other hand, Kelemen is positive these former employees will find new jobs, because there is a general shortage of labor in the Háromszék region. The workforce agency is currently listing 290 jobs in various places of the county, in Sepsiszentgyörgy/Sfântu Gheorghe, Kézdivásárhely/Târgu Secuiesc, Uzon/Ozun, and Szotyor/Coşeni.
Title image: Brexit. Image credit: Pixabay
