Global slowdown may force SKF to cut jobs, restructuring on anvil

New Delhi, Nov 13 (UNI) Reeling under the pressure of weakening demand due to the ongoing global financial turmoil, world's leading bearings maker SKF Group today said it may cut jobs and further restructure its business next month.

''The changing demand situation makes us slightly focussed...

We are taking further steps,'' AB SKF President and CEO Tom Johnstone told reporters here.

The company is contemplating to reduce its temporary workers, cut overtime facilities and restructure manufacturing units at its various plants, Mr Johnstone said.

SKF, seen as a bellwether for the manufacturing sector due to its wide range of industrial customers, said last month it was cutting production due to an expected fall in demand in the coming months.

The company and its contemporaries in the Nordic engineering sector are facing increasingly tough market conditions on the swelling financial crisis, after years of record earnings and robust growth.

Even the company's India operations suffered a decline of 14 per cent in its net profit at Rs 37 crore for the quarter ended September 30, compared to Rs 43.1 crore in the same period last year.

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