The chemical company BASF is to shed 600 jobs at its site in Antwerp between now and the end of 2028. The largest chemical company in Belgium announced the job losses Wednesday morning. Although around 1 in 5 jobs will be lost at BASF’s Antwerp site, the company insists that there will be no forced redundancies. Meanwhile, employers’ organisations describe the news as “a blow for Belgian industry”.
At the end of last year, BASF Antwerp announced that it wanted to achieve structural savings of 100 million euro in its fixed costs by 2028. This figure has now been increased to 150 million euro.
The company says that “The economic context and the lack of any tangible effects from measures designed to support the industry are forcing the company to take action again”.
“No compulsory redundancies”
As “fixed costs” consist for the most part on the cost of employing staff, reducing them by 50% more than was first announced will inevitably lead to job losses, BASF says.
Around 600 jobs will be lost by the end of 2028. The company says that although this can’t be achieved in full by natural wastage forced redundancies are not on the cards.
“The impact will be enormous”
The trade unions were told the news on Wednesday morning at a special works council meeting. Jan Vlegels of the socialist trade union ABV told VRT News that “600 jobs between now and 2028, that's about 17% of the total workforce”.
“The impact will be enormous both for the people who will see their jobs disappear and for those who will keep their jobs but have to take on the work of others”.
The unions are holding meetings for their members at which they provide them with more details about the management’s plans. “In the coming weeks, it should become clear which departments and jobs will have to go. Staff and the unions will then be given all the details”.
“New blow to industry”
The news has not only hit BASF employees like a bombshell. The CEO of the Flemish employers’ organisation VOKA Frank Beckx describes it as a “’new blow to industry in Flanders”. “We must do everything we can to keep the crown jewels of Flemish industry here. Industry underpins our prosperity.”
A similar sentiment is echoed by the chemical industry federation Essenscia “This is bad, sad news for all the people who will be affected by this” Essencia’s managing director Yves Verschueren said an initial response.
“At the same time, we have to concede that unfortunately this was inevitable. For months, we have been calling for decisive action to restore the competitiveness of European industry. This announcement once again demonstrates how urgent this request is to the government, the social partners and everyone that cares about the survival of industry in our country.”
“We will continue to advocate for the strong cluster chemical of chemical companies in the port of Antwerp to be maintained at all costs”.