Animex to cut employment at Warsaw office by 60%

Animex S.A. controlled by American company Smithfield Foods plans to layoff 140 employees or 60% of its Warsaw headquarters staff due to restructuring. There are 7,000 employees in the Animex group and this number will probably also be cut. "The amount to be laid off is still unknown," said Animex spokeswoman Anna Malcuzynska. The cost of the layoffs will probably make Animex's financial standing even worse. The company had zl. 126 million in losses last year. "Most of our meat plants are producing losses. They are operating at 40% of their production capacity," said Malcuzynska. She says the cost of acquiring meat, production costs, loss of eastern markets and troubles with the black market are hurting the firm. "In companies, which have the same employment structure as 11 years ago, there are too many unnecessary workers. Layoffs were easy to predict," said ING BSK Asset Management analyst Jacek Lichota. (Parkiet, page 1, 2)