Groupe PSA, the Rueil-Malmaison-based French multinational manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles having long-hailed brands such as Peugeot, Citroen, Opel, DS Automobiles and a many more, had issued a statement on Saturday saying that the maker of Peugeot had been working out an alternative to bring in Polish workers into its Hordain factory located in the Northern France in a bid to ramp up production after weeks of forced closures due to the global-scale pandemic outbreak.
Nonetheless, in the face of a flurry of job losses in a majority of the bloc’s leading economies including France, the eurozone’s second-largest economy, the decision of Groupe PSA to transfer 500 workers from eastern Europe instead of hiring temporary workers from local labour markets, had been met with sheer criticism from the workers’ unions alongside the French Government.
On top of that, latest Groupe PSA move to transfer Polish workers aimed at turbocharging the French automotive industry tycoon’s production lines came forth against the backdrop of a cataclysmic outlook in the French labour market, while the French economy was expected to contract as much as 11 per cent this year and the unemployment rate would likely to reach a record peak amid a pandemic-led slump in business investments.
Groupe PSA set to create a team of Polish workers at its Hordain plant
In point of fact, while the French multinational carmaker’s $50 billion merger with Fiat Chrysler appeared to be facing off EU antitrust hurdles amid a pandemic-driven slump in the global automotive industry, solacing the French labour market which was taking heavy headers despite an ease of the lockdown measures, a PSA spokesman said in statement to a press agency, “We understand the emotion that this caused in the context of what the country is going through and are working on an alternative solution,” adding that the alternative approach of PSA would involve creating a team of Polish workers at its Hordain plant, which used to capitalize on temporary workers.
