Slovak shoe-maker Galand to lay off 300 staff

More than 300 staff employed by shoe-maker Galand in the east of Slovakia will be laid off in May and June of 2013, reported local media on Monday. The mass redundancies will take place at Galand's factories in Snina and Bardejov, both in Presov region, and the exact number of affected employees will reach 316, most of them are women. "Unused production capacities are stated as the main reason for the redundancies. This has been caused by a drop in orders and clients," said Humenne Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Centre head Gabriela Karskova. "This is the standard situation in Slovakia at the moment. There are no orders, and we're not competitive due to (high) labor costs. Five key customers have left us this and last year. They've turned their attention to Romania, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and India instead," said Galand's executive manager Milan Kocan. He said all employees' rights based on the Labor Code and work contracts will be fully observed. The number of Galand's employees stood at 500 at the end of 2012.