The decline in coal and steel traffic has led to redundancies at Britiain’s biggest rail freight operator DB Cargo.
THE collapse in demand for carrying coal to electricity generating power stations, combined with the weak output from steel producers, has resulted in a 30% cutback in DB Cargo’s UK workforce of 2943
people as the company looks to lose 893 jobs.
The reduction in drivers is particularly severe with 1116 people being required to apply for 725 posts, which will have new locations and revised terms and conditions of employment. 245 ground staff out of 530 will also be cut, and 88 out of 211 technical and clerical staff. 122 out of 398 management posts will also go.
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There is a danger that the strategy will leave the company short of drivers. Older drivers will retire rather than relocate, while others will find employment with alternative passenger and freight operating companies, where recruits will be welcomed that do not have to be trained from scratch.
Many will see this as a case of a distant corporate management making misjudgments because it does not have detailed knowledge of a specific employment market. DB Cargo is the successor to EWS, which was acquired by Deutsche Bahn – the German national operator – in 2009.
Read more in December’s issue of RE
