Reprieve for 165 Corus jobs

UNDER-threat Corus workers in South Yorkshire have had a surprise Christmas present–there will be 165 fewer redundancies than originally thought.

It follows a better than anticipated demand for steel products and marks a modest but welcome recovery following the worst recession in living memory.

It follows a better than anticipated demand for steel products and marks a modest but welcome recovery following the worst recession in living memory.

Corus has reached agreement with union representatives at its South Yorkshire sites on changes to manning levels following the recent upturn in orders.

Now Corus' engineering steels business will be making 165 fewer job reductions than were notified earlier this year at its Rotherham and Stocksbridge sites. 

Employees who could be affected by these changes have been informed.

Peter Hogg, general manager of the engineering steels business, said the decision followed an upturn in demand for some of the sites' products.

"Demand is still very low in some of our markets and we don't think we'll see a return to the 2007-08 industrial levels for some time to come.

“But we have seen a modest recovery in some of the sectors we supply, in particular the automotive industry and general manufacturing, and we need to capitalise on that.

"We've had to make some difficult and painful decisions this year in order to survive the worst recession in living memory, but the changes we are announcing today are an indication that more positive trading conditions are emerging in some of our markets."

Corus' decision also follows close collaboration between the company and the unions to create a more flexible workforce which can respond more quickly to the changing needs of the business.