Czech state enterprise DIAMO plans to lay off about 12 pct of its 3,450 employees

The state-owned enterprise DIAMO Stráž pod Ralskem in the Českolipsko region plans to lay off about 12 percent of its 3,450 employees this year, with layoffs planned at all seven of its plants in the country, Czech Television (CT) reported yesterday. There are also plans to merge some plants. This should bring annual savings of CZK 400 to 500 million, which can be used for post-mining rehabilitation.

DIAMO, is a state organization that specializes in mitigating the consequences of mining activities after uranium, ore and some coal mining in the Czech Republic. It also focuses on the protection of deposits and the use of strategic raw materials and the further use of mining waste. The company has seven branch plants in Stráž pod Ralskem in the Českolipsko region, Příbram, Dolní Rožínka in the Žďár region, Ostrava, Karviná and Chlumec in the Ústí nad Labem region.

According to the director Ludvík Kašpar, 120 people out of the current 1,000 employees in Stráž pod Ralskem will be fired and 37 vacant positions will be eliminated. Employees will find out next week who will leave. In April, they will find out what they are entitled to and how to proceed during interviews at the company. DIAMO will hand out notices at all plants from 1 to 12 June, Kašpar told ČT. The redundancies will affect people from administration, service activities or maintenance, he said. The state-owned enterprise was following the same key in all plants, the director stressed.

The layoffs should not cause any major problems in the Českolipsko region, which has the lowest unemployment rate in the Liberec region for a long time. In Stráž pod Ralskem, where around 3,800 people live, unemployment was at 2.2 percent at the end of February, with 64 people unemployed and 92 vacancies on offer, according to data from the Labour Office. In the Českolipsko region, unemployment was four percent at the end of February, with 2,872 people out of work and employers offering 1,232 vacancies.

According to Kašpar, the priority is the operation of remediation technologies, i.e. the protection of the environment, the health of the population and the safety of mine operations. During the restructuring, DIAMO plans to merge its spin-off plants in Ostrava and Karviná, which are focused on mine management and rehabilitation and reclamation after mining activities, as well as plants in Dolní Rožínka, Příbram and Chlumec, which are focused on mitigating the consequences of mining activities. According to the annual report, the company's turnover exceeded CZK 6 billion in 2022, while personnel costs exceeded CZK 2.5 billion. Last year's figures are not yet available.

Source: ČT and CTK