News from Russian press circles states that over 1,000 employees of Russia’s leading aerospace group will be affected by short-time work. In an announcement to the staff the management refers to a “decrease of the amount of air deliveries in international trade” which led to this step.
Firing masses of people or introducing month-long part-time work? The Volga management had to decide between these two rather gloomy options. As a result they’ve just decided to cut the five day working week down to three days only – a solution even hard-core unionist seem to be accepting. Short-time work will start in early June and is scheduled to last until November, depending on market circumstances at year’s end.
The good news for the staff is that only Volga-Dnepr’s traditional home venue Ulyanovsk is affected by this decision. There, 1,060 out of a total of 1,480 employees will face less work and lower
income from summer till fall. “The alternative to this would have been large-scale redundancies,” said the management. But “in order to preserve as many jobs as possible and in view of our social
and corporative responsibilities we decided to take this step.”
Hit by declining demand
Volga Dnepr once praised as the carrier who had a finger on the world’s charter and outsized cargo market, seems now also to be suffering under the economic slowdown.
This move surely has nothing whatever to do with the present “political stand-off” between Russia and the West.
Heavy cargo movements during the past years have also been somewhat dependent on both military and relief flights. The military transport scene has slowed considerably and relief aid hotspots
such as Africa, although still a dreadful human tragedy, apparently don’t see a continuous flow of much needed goods by air.
The airline to date has refused to comment on this decision.
Heiner Siegmund