JLR to lay off staff temporarily at UK plant to adjust vehicle production

New Delhi: Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) Friday said it is undertaking adjustment of vehicle production at its plant at Wolverhampton, central England, as a result of which 250 temporary jobs will be affected.

The company further said it will undertake a two-week production pause at the plant in December and has asked 500 workers to stay at home although they would continue to draw salaries during the period.

Terming the external environment as challenging, the company said it is taking decisive actions to achieve the necessary operational efficiencies to safeguard long-term success.

“To deliver a growing range of electrified cars for our customers we are making tough decisions, but the transformation of the business relies on this,” JLR said in a statement.

It further added, “Today, we have confirmed that Solihull will make some changes to its production schedule to reflect fluctuating demand globally and forthcoming infrastructure works resulting from the cessation of Discovery which will move, as already confirmed, to Slovakia early in the new year”.

The British luxury carmaker, facing headwinds in home market, Europe and China, announced commissioning of a 1,50,000-units, 1.4-billion euro manufacturing facility in Nitra, Slovakia last month. It became the first British automotive company to open plant in the southeastern European nation and the third in the continent.

Customer orders will not be impacted by any of these changes, the statement said.

The company said that in response to adjustments in vehicle production schedules, the EMC (engine manufacturing centre) will take a temporary pause in production in its machine and assembly halls.

Maintenance and salaried staff will continue as normal and those impacted continue to receive full pay for this period, it added.

Tata Motors shares were trading 2.88 per cent down at Rs 172.20 on the BSE.