Page 115 - Socially-responsible-restructuring-Effective-strategies-for-supporting-redundant-workers

Socially responsible restructuring
Effective strategies for supporting redundant workers

the availability of additional services through regional support mechanisms.
These allow employees to access training and retraining courses as soon as they
leave, all funded through the ESF with appropriate matched elements.
The redundancies are quite recent and so it is difficult to judge the effects of
the approach taken by this company. Anecdotal evidence suggests a sense of
realism among the leavers in terms of their future labour market prospects, with
some changing direction completely and seeking (and in some cases finding)
jobs in the care and retail sectors which are likely to offer more sustainable
employment than in traditional forms of engineering.
However, an effective and transparent system for dealing with the jobs fallout
from restructuring will serve to bolster relations with those employees left in the
organisation.

6.4.6. Innovation and effectiveness
The most important lessons from the approach in this company relate to the
timing of support provision and the collaborative nature of it.
In terms of timing, the period for consultation for mass redundancies of fewer
than 100 is only one month and so it is necessary to move quickly to ensure that
as much support as possible is given to the employees before they leave the site.
With this company, its previous experience with restructuring meant that it had
the procedures in place that could be evoked quickly. However, timing was also
important in the collaborative aspect of the provision of services. It is not always
easy to get agencies on site quickly but this company was successful in
marshalling the resources of three agencies, all offering essentially
complementary activities.
The effectiveness of the support package can also be judged by how flexible
and responsive it is; in this case such aspects were evident in the range of
options available, including self-employment advice. However, there was also a
sense of realism, as evidenced in the range of jobs sought and the training
opportunities taken up.

6.5. Schering-Plough (Bray), Ireland (CASE STUDY 5)

6.5.1. Background and context
The Schering-Plough plant is located in Bray, a traditional seaside town, and is
part of Merck Pharmaceuticals Multinational. It manufactures a range of
pharmaceutical and healthcare products for animal health. The merger of Merck
and Schering-Plough has resulted in total employment of over 100 000 people

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