Romet’s 2009 strategy includes 25% salary drop and layoffs

The crisis has led the businessman to decide to change the company’s expansion strategy announced at the end of last year’s first half and focus on cutting costs. As a result, the company has laid off more than 100 of Romet’s 800 employees and cut salaries of technical, economic, and socio-administrative (TESA) staff by some 25 percent for at least five months, until the current economic context improves.

“The main goals in 2009 are cost reduction and revenue preservation. For every expense we set cutting targets, some of 30-40 percent,” Toma said.

For this year, the company official budgeted a 10 percent increase in business from the €250 million net sales registered in 2008, up 15 percent compared to 2007. But, considering the current financial context, the businessman said that managing to maintain business at the level registered in 2008 would be a very good result.

Toma planned to expand its portfolio in 2009, by opening Romania’s first solar panel factory, which would have required an investment worth some €5 mln. The decision was made based on the 90 percent subsidy offered by the government for beneficiaries opting for solar panels. But since the executive has not yet published the list of beneficiaries, the project is on hold.

“Once we will know the government’s decision, in three-four months, we will begin the construction of the factory. At the moment, the solar panel market is frozen. Although in the first nine months of 2008 we registered increases of up to 40 percent compared to 2007, and had 30-40 projects every month, nobody has contracted anything in the past few months,” Toma added.